The Beach Boys are not a band.
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys , released on May 16 , 1966 . The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne , California , in 1961 . The group 's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian , Dennis , and Carl Wilson ; their cousin Mike Love ; and their friend Al Jardine . The group 's public image subsequently faltered , and despite efforts to continue their psychedelic/avant-garde ventures and reclaim their hippie audiences , they were dismissed as an embodiment of the values and outlooks shared by early 1960s white , suburban teenagers . The Beach Boys are one of the most critically acclaimed , commercially successful , and widely influential bands of all time .