Cultural historian John Robert Greene stated that "God Only Knows" remade the ideal of the popular love song, while "Sloop John B" and "Pet Sounds" broke new ground and took rock music away from its casual lyrics and melodic structures into what was then uncharted territory. He also credited "Pet Sounds" (as well as "Rubber Soul", "Revolver", and the 1960s folk movement) with spawning the majority of trends in post-1965 rock music. Many Los Angeles record producers imitated the album's orchestral style, which became a component to the sunshine pop acts that followed. "Decider" wrote that the album "almost single-handedly created the idea of 'baroque pop'." Discussing the smooth soul genre, "Chicago Reader" Noah Berlatsky argued that the Beach Boys helped bridge a gap between the polished pop harmonizing of the Drifters and the experimentation of the Chi-Lites, particularly with "Sloop John B", whose "fussy" arrangements, "pure" harmonies, and "childish vulnerability" he says "come out of a tradition of pop R&B". "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was similarly influential to power pop with respect to its "happy"-sounding music underpinned by a sense of yearning and longing.