Sunshine pop’s bright melodies and bittersweet undercurrents didn’t fade with the ’60s. As Alta’s deep dive into how the Beach Boys sparked the genre shows, its influence keeps rippling outward. These five artists reveal how sunshine pop’s harmonies and haze still shape modern music. To hear the throughline for yourself, explore our curated Spotify playlist.•
1 . “God Only Knows”
The Beach Boys, 1966
2. “The Rain, the Park & Other Things”
The Cowsills, 1967
3. “Sun”
Margo Guryan, 1968
4. “Wedding Bell Blues”
The 5th Dimension, 1969
5. “(They Long to Be) Close to You”
The Carpenters, 1970
Paula Mejía is a Colombian American writer and editor from Houston. Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, GQ, the Atlantic, Texas Monthly, and other publications. She teaches graduate arts writing at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and lives in Los Angeles.
