STILL SURFIN' Still riding the Beach Boys wave, from left, Matthew Grose, Jorge Bernardo, Matt Miller, Jim Lampert and Wayne Durgan.

Life’s a beach

There are few musicians as talented as Brian Wilson, the brainchild of the Beach Boys, at least according to one member of a Beach Boys tribute band, Matthew Grose.

Help! A Homeless benefit featuring Still Surfin' and BeatleMania Live Where: Waikiki Shell When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday; doors open at 4 p.m. Admission: $15, $20, and $45; $5 of every ticket goes to the Salvation Army. Call: (877) 750-4400

A computer guy by day, at night Grose morphs into the lead singer of Still Surfin', which performs Beach Boys' music 20 to 30 times a year, belting out classic hits such as "Surfer Girl" and "God Only Knows" at county fairs, civic and charity events, and Fourth of July parties. On Friday, the band -- complete with striped shirts and white guitars -- will play a benefit show at Waikiki Shell with BeatleMania Live, another tribute band that gets high marks from Grose.

But while there are several Beatles cover acts, there aren't too many who choose to pattern themselves after the Beach Boys, especially one led by a Canadian-born singer, such as Grose.

"I get two reactions when I tell people. The first one is why? 'They're an oldies act.' The second reaction is, 'That's a really ambitious undertaking,'" Grose said via phone from his home in Great Falls, Va.

Growing up in Northern Ontario, Grose said because of the Beach Boys, he grew up thinking, "Every girl in America was a California girl. I thought everyone had a (convertible.)" But at 35 and as the baby of Still Surfin', Grose wasn't even alive when the Beach Boys were in their heyday. Grose and bandmates Jorge Bernardo, Wayne Durgan, Jim Lampert, Matt Miller, and Jeff McEvoy give it their best try to capture the act's deceptively smooth harmonies, chord changes and image of innocence.

The Beach Boys had a knack for singing complex harmonies about simple subjects, at least in its early days, when cars and girls were idolized.

"There are not a lot of bands covering the Beach Boys because it's hard," Grose said. "No one could harmonize as well as they could, including 'N Sync or Boyz to Men. The Beach Boys' vocals just send shivers down your spine. There's nothing that sounds like the Beach Boys."

Formed in 1990, Still Surfin' spent most of its first year singing and working on harmonies. After friends, except for guitarist Durgan, didn't work out as bandmates, Grose auditioned musicians.

Still Surfin' sticks to the Beach Boys' earliest music, covering classics from "Surfin' USA" up until "Pet Sounds," which was about the time the British Invasion and arrival of the Beatles made American music seem tired.

Grose said his band has an additional challenge in performing Beach Boys music, in that they can't rely on shtick or costuming. He said it's a challenge to play the part of musicians that many people don't even recognize on sight.

"The fact that people don't know what the Beach Boys look like doesn't play well for us. They don't really have any (distinguishable) mannerisms."

So sound is especially important.

"People want to hear what they already know, so it's our job as a cover band to deliver what they want. A lot of fans don't recognize their later music. Why waste time performing songs that people don't know? But 'Pet Sounds,' from beginning to end, is a beautiful record."

THE OTHER members of the group -- whose day jobs are as a database administrator for AOL, a custom drainage constructor, a filmmaker, and a federal government executive -- like the Beach Boys just fine, it's Grose who found his calling as the lead singer of Still Surfin' after years of performing in bar bands.

He's been in reggae acts, blues bands, alternative college bands and, he's also written his own music, but he's most comfortable performing as a Beach Boy facsimile.

"I am not in any way Brian Wilson. But I'm the leader because it was my idea and my passion," he said. "He is the most underrated musician. Brian Wilson changed rock 'n' roll, especially in the 1960s. ... I never thought I'd be able to do this, perform the music. But it was my wife, Scarlett, who encouraged me to go and try it.

"At first, we just played a party just to do it. Now we're traveling a little farther and then a little farther."