Surfin' U.S.A. is the second studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released March 25, 1963 on Capitol Records.

It reached number 2 in the US during a chart stay of 78 weeks, eventually being certified gold by the RIAA, and brought the group newfound national success.

[3]In a retrospective review, Richie Unterberger wrote: "The album as a whole is the best they would make, prior to the late '60s, as a band that played most of their instruments, rather than as a vehicle for Brian Wilson's ideas.

"[1] Author Luis Sanchez summarized the album's impact on culture and the image it established for the Beach Boys: If Surfin' U.S.A. didn't literally transform America into an endless beach, it added vivid dimension to California mythos and took it further than anyone would have thought.

You could call The Beach Boys’ version of Southern California cutesy or callow or whatever, but what matters is that it captured a lack of self-consciousness—a genuineness—that set them apart from their peers.

And it was this quality that came to define Brian’s oeuvre as he moved beyond and into bigger pop productions that would culminate in Smile.