Beginning their career as the most popular surf band in the nation, the Beach Boys finally emerged by 1966 as America's pre-eminent pop group, the only act able to challenge (for a brief time) the overarching success of the Beatles with both mainstream listeners and the critical community. From their

Baroque, Bright, Cartoonish, Charming, Clean, Contemplative, Cool, Dreamy, Elegant, Funny, Ironic, Joyful, Lush, Lyrical, Melancholy, Polychromatic, Pop, Pristine, Psychedelic, Sincere, Smarty arty pop, Sublime

Born to a Jewish family in Natick, Massachusetts, Richman began playing music and writing his own songs in the mid-1960s. Richman became infatuated with the Velvet Underground, and in 1969 he moved to New York City, living on the couch of their manager, Steve Sesnick, while working odd jobs and try

Charming, Clever, Fleeting, Joyful, Playful, Pop, Post-punk, Primal, Quirky, Self-reflection, Sincere, Singer/songwriter, Whimsical

A kind of charming darkness oozes between Morrissey and Johnny Marr of the Smiths. The combination of Morrissey's syrupy, melancholy voice and Marr's jangling, meticulously layered guitar breeds an infectious moodiness. Breaking away from the bawdy new-wave synth pop that characterized the early 1980

Brit-pop, Dark, Ethereal, Melancholy, Post-punk, Quirky, Sincere

Yes, the band does take its name from the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, the phase in which we dream. This is totally appropriate, for the band's sound has a muffled texture, the lyrics are not quite distinguishable, and when decipherable, are opaque in meaning. This creates a dreamy yet cr

Alternative rock, Eclectic, Intimate, Kaleidoscopic, Saturated, Sincere, Smarty arty pop