The first time I played this I got the sample wrong – a thrill of shocked recognition as I heard the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” intro, run crudely under the beat. Great choice, I thought – Brian Wilson’s delicate, unstained teenage love forced into the service of insolent horndogs Spank Rock. A painstaking pop masterpiece – profaned! by Spank’s brazen urgency.
Except…it’s not “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, it’s “California Girls”, which is a less interesting pick – coy rather than innocent. It still works, though, still feels like something disgraceful is happening. If I was making a mixtape for Nick Hornby, this would be my first track. The version I actually listened to all holiday was the Diplo mix, though, which swaps the Beach Boys for a lazy, bluesy sample and some droll keyboards and goes on a bit longer.