Punk rock was built on rebellion. When the movement exploded in the mid-1970s, it aimed to tear down the bloated excess of mainstream rock, rejecting everything that felt overproduced or out of touch. But even the most hardcore punks couldn’t completely ignore the legends that came before them—including Black Flag’s Henry Rollins.
Despite his reputation as an intense, no-nonsense frontman, Rollins has never shied away from talking about the music that shaped him. Over the years, he’s shown admiration for a variety of artists, from jazz icon John Coltrane to, surprisingly, The Beach Boys. And when it comes to their mastermind Brian Wilson, Rollins doesn’t hold back, calling him a “true, not-up-for-debate musical genius.”
At first glance, Rollins and Wilson couldn’t be further apart. Rollins emerged from the gritty Washington D.C. hardcore scene, while The Beach Boys crafted the smooth, sun-soaked harmonies of California rock. But beneath the surface, Wilson’s work was anything but simple. His music evolved from catchy surf rock into something far more sophisticated—so much so that Rollins compared his arrangements to that of “a classical master composer.”
In a 2011 column for LA Weekly, Rollins expressed his love for SMiLE, the infamous Beach Boys album originally meant to follow Pet Sounds. Though the record was shelved for decades, Wilson finally released it in 2011, and for Rollins, it was worth the wait. “There are moments on SMiLE that are so astonishingly good,” he wrote, “you might find yourself just staring at your speakers in unguarded wonder, as I have.”
Of course, any discussion of Pet Sounds and SMiLE inevitably leads to their biggest rival—The Beatles. While The Beach Boys had Wilson as their creative force, The Beatles had Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison, each contributing in different ways. Rollins acknowledged the difference, saying, “The Beatles had two Godzilla songwriters in Lennon and McCartney, and a great one in Harrison. The Beach Boys had Brian Wilson.”
Rollins may not be the first person you’d expect to praise Brian Wilson, but his admiration speaks volumes about the sheer brilliance of Wilson’s work. If a hardcore punk icon can recognize his genius, it’s safe to say Wilson’s music transcends genre, era, and expectation.
