Who? The Monkees
What’s the story? The Monkees are one of the great underrated bands in popular music history. Perhaps due to their 'pretend band' TV beginnings, you'll rarely find them mentioned amongst more illustrious and, perhaps, cooler peers, but they were brilliant songwriters who influenced a generation of other artists (not to mention selling a staggering 75 million records). Clearly, though, one person paying attention was Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. He's written this fantastic song for The Monkees new album Good Times!, the first since 1996's Justus and the first since the death in 2012 of founding member Davy Jones - which also features songs written by Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Neil Diamond and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie. She Makes Me Laugh is an irresistibly upbeat slice of sixties-influenced pop - jangly guitars, sweet harmonies, tambourines and all the rest; if this doesn't brighten up your day then there's something wrong with you.
For fans of: The Beatles, The Small Faces
In three words: Sixties summer throwback
