Label: Columbia
Year of Release: 1966
The Ways and Means have already featured on this blog back in 2019, when we took a look at their downright sinister psychedelic harmony single "Sea of Faces". That record has fascinated me for many years as an example of something which sounds as if it might have been trying to be a commercial hit rather than an underground sound, but everyone's aspirations disappeared down the back of the mixing desk at some point during the process.
Certainly, this record - their debut a mere seven months before that one saw the light of day - showed no signs of any desire to produce a delirious sounding record. Both sides here are very straightforward and faithful reproductions of the Beach Boys sound with only a slightly (and perhaps appropriately) damp atmosphere letting things down slightly; it's hard to hear any warmth or glee in these renditions which in places sound a little perfunctory. It could have been a case of one too many takes in a pressured studio environment or possibly the group felt hamstrung by the material.
Whatever, 1966 was way too late for a British group to take a chance on scoring a hit with covers of early Beach Boys material. While the group had to wait awhile to take flight in the UK, they were very far from a marginal or unknown quantity in mid-1966 and "Little Deuce Coupe" had been made available on the "Fun Fun Fun" EP a few years before. The Ways and Means' performances here are hard to fault, but they were more interesting when they pushed the boat a little bit further out.
The full line-up details of the group can be found over at the previous entry.
If the previews below aren't working properly, please go right to the source.
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