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Listening to "Indian Lake" by the Cowsills is like hearing a ghost -- it's as though the Beach Boys had come back to us all whole and unracked, all unartisticized, unmysticized and untranscendentalized again. The publicity of the Cowsills put me off at first, but now I am beginning to think that their optimistic, spirited choral directness is the pure reflection of healthy soul; unlike the Beach Boys, who early concentrated on cars, motorcycles and surfing, the Cowsills have a strong moral point of view. "In Need of A Friend," written by two Cowsill brothers still in their teens, shows an unusually mature spirit. And "Newspaper Blanket," while nowhere as sophisticated musically, shows social concern similar to that in Paul Simon's "Old Friends/ Bookends."
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