"Popsicle" was one of Jan and Dean's last records with tracks recorded before Jan's fateful automobile accident (near Dead Man's Curve). But "Popsicle" is more than a curio. It's also a chance to hear the duo at their peak.

It includes some surprisingly sweet songs about the life of a surfer. "A Surfer's Dream" first appeared on their album "Surf City," gently describing "another perfect day" of freedom by the ocean with violins in the background.

(The song was co-authored by Jan's real-life girlfriend, Jill Gibson.) "The Restless Surfer" strikes a philosophical note, describing "a voice deep down inside" urging Jan on to other lands though he dreams of settling down. The album even includes an unusual cover the Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)."

Some of the tracks had been recorded for earlier albums - but one critic argued that this is actually one of the album's strengths. "Popsicle" collects some unusual songs that were rejected because they weren't obvious hits. The title track had been released on their 1964 album "Drag City" as "Popsicle Truck," but it's a complicated production that sets the tone well for the album. And it's hard to object to the duo's enthusiastic cover of "Summer Means Fun."

Jan and Dean collaborated with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, but it was Jan and Dean who cultivated the reputation as jokesters. (One album's liner notes called them "the Laurel and Hardy of the Surf crowd.") The album opens with the fast and wacky ode to the various flavors of Popsicles - and it closes with yet-another piece about the Little Old Lady From Pasadena. (This one describes "Granny" scandalizing the beach by wearing a notorious one-piece topless bathing suit.) The playfulness is hard to miss with the bow-bow backing vocals throughout "Tennessee," which also features as wild saxophone solo.

Jan Berry developed a growing reputation as a music producer, and it's fun to contemplate his contribution while listening to the album. The album contains standard surfing tunes like "Waimea Bay" and "Surf Route 101," but both songs include some well-chosen instruments in the background, including trumpets and, at one point, even a harp. It's fun to hear surfer lingo they'd picked up from the 60s (like "we stopped at the sugar shack for chow and some jiving.") But mostly, it's just fun to hear Jan and Dean in action one last time.

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
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