The Beach Boys continue their war of words via another press release.

To catch up: following the band’s 50th anniversary tour, Mike Love and Bruce Johnson issued a statement claiming that the “post-50th anniversary configuration will not include Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks.” Wilson claimed he learned of the plans via the announcement. Then, Mike Love tried to clarify the issue: “Let me get right to it: I did not fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys.”

And here’s the latest volley. Wilson and Jardine made a statement to the LA Times, in Wilson’s words, with the lighthearted exuberance of an aging surfer that still throws around “bummer.” Excerpts from the statement:

“As far as I know I can’t be fired–that wouldn’t be cool. The negativity surrounding all the comments bummed me out. What’s confusing is that by Mike not wanting or letting Al, David and me tour with the band, it sort of feels like we’re being fired.”

“What’s a bummer to Al and me is that we have numerous offers to continue, so why wouldn’t we want to? We all poured our hearts and souls into that album and the fans rewarded us by giving us a No. 3 debut on the Billboard charts, and selling out our shows. We were all blown away by the response.”

“That’s why I was completely blindsided by his press release. I had no idea that it was coming out, since it was crafted by Mike’s personal PR firm without my knowledge or approval. No one in my camp would have approved it or the timing.”

“While I appreciate the nice cool things Mike said about me in his letter, and I do and always will love him as my cousin and bandmate, at the same time I’m still left wondering why he doesn’t want to continue this great trip we’re on. Al and I want to keep going because we believe we owe it to the music.”

And the countdown to the next statement from Mike Love begins now…