I'd have to say that many of my favorite things are unified by a common theme - troubled innocence. Some people just naturally abhor Beach Boys or the comic strip Peanuts. I can see where these people are coming from, kind of. On the surface, there is a definite superficiality to songs about surfing or repeating good grief a million times. However, there is that something which separates the Beach Boys from the Monkees and Peanuts from Family Circus.Take the Zombies, who are kind of a more psychedelic, more British version of the Beach Boys. The songs are straightforward in form and lyrical content; one might call them basic. This belies their formal greatness and harmonic bliss. Each instrument is incredibly articulated, particularly the drums and of course the vocals. Naturally, they also have a hint of despair behind their sunny exterior. Bands like the Zombies avoid the trap of being draggingly cynical without becoming saccharine. Wes Anderson, dare I mention the name, also can make masterful use of troubled innocence. Needless to say, so do most if not all of his thematic influences. Not surprising that the Zombies show up on at least one of his soundtracks.
I don't know if I explained myself very well here, but I'm really just trying to kill some time and describe what makes the Zombies and other media objects like their albums so great for those disbelievers out there.
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