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I don’t think anyone scoffs at The Beach Boys’ brilliant, ornately layered vocal harmonies, thinking, "So what? I could do that!" But after hearing "Wouldn’t It Be Nice" or "God Only Knows" on the radio for several decades, it’s possible we’ve all become a bit numb to their musicality. These are not easy songs to sing so precisely, with such character and emotion, and these guys were doing it (mostly) in the all-analog era—pre-dating the lucrative studio cheat code of digital pitch correction.

When you open up the hood of a song like "California Girls," studying the beloved vocal blend at its core, it makes you appreciate the song even more. And Chris Cron, a member of the Beach Boys tribute band Pet Sounds Live, has taken it one step further on his social media accounts—recreating many of the band’s classic harmonies layer by layer, one part at a time, and looping them into semi-live-in-the-studio performances. It’s incredible stuff.

Breaking down The Beach Boys' signature harmonies

His first such video was for The Beach Boys’ 1963 surf-rock/doo-wop staple "In My Room," with Cron working his way through each part (bass, baritone, tenor two, and tenor one) of the song’s swoon-worthy first verse and chorus. It’s an eye-opening education on the architecture of harmony. When you hear the bass vocal in isolation, it almost feels empty—because it technically is without the other parts! But if you were to strip away that foundation, the house would crumble.

"Performed live in my room," Cron wrote in the Instagram caption. 'No edits, or tweaks." (That’s his M.O. for almost all of these videos—he appears to highlight the very rare occasion when he uses software.) "This is just plain among the best clips I’ve ever seen on Instagram," one viewer wrote in the comments. "This is so f**king awesome. Thank you for posting this. I have been singing along and played this So many damn times." Another added, "The fact that you didn't auto tune this makes me so freaking happy. Amazing job!"

Elsewhere on his page, Cron ventures way beyond The Beach Boys, nailing songs by The Beatles, Steely Dan (can’t recommend enough his breakdown of "Peg"), The Eagles, Queen, Coldplay, even Monty Python and Muse. But naturally, given his work in Pet Sounds Live, there are plenty more Beach Boys videos, including his versions of "Please Let Me Wonder," "Don’t Worry Baby," "Surfer Girl," "California Girls," "God Only Knows," "Good Vibrations," and "Wouldn’t It Be Nice."

Joining the actual Beach Boys on stage

There’s also another notable video connected to the pop mavericks: On October 26, Cron broke from his typical format to announce, "I get to sing with the actual Beach Boys! This is not a joke!" The musician noted he "got a phone call" from Jackie Love, wife of Beach Boys singer Mike Love, "asking if I would mind filling in for a few dates for them." He added, "I get to sing lead on 'God Only Knows' and 'Good Vibrations' and 'Help Me, Rhonda.' What is happening?" In a later post, he mentioned preparing to head out for gigs with the band, Love, and occasional live member John Stamos, admitting, "There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say."

This technically wasn’t his first time gracing the stage with The Beach Boys. As he explained in 2024 to WDHA 105.5, he originally met Stamos through "all this Instagram stuff" and was introduced to the band’s "music director," Brian Eichenberger. He wound up attending a Beach Boys show in Kentucky and was asked to sing on their 1988 hit "Kokomo."

For the fall run, Cron said he’d join the stage for four shows in Florida: November 14 at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, followed by a trio of gigs (Nov. 15-17) at EPCOT in Orlando. In response to one comment, he wrote, "I am equal parts excited and terrified haha." But based on the immaculate performances in his room, I’m sure it was nothing but good vibrations up there.