All Your Summer Songs
7 nostalgic summer vignettes; all new music.
We’re just coming off a three day weekend in the U.S., one that’s supposed to kinda sorta kick us off into an unofficial start of summer. Here in Philadelphia, though, it’s been cold and rainy and miserable.
I can’t will joy and sunshine into being.1 But I can make it sound like summer by conjuring up seven nostalgic scenes. Maybe you’ll remember them. Maybe you won’t. But each one is accompanied by new music that will help set the mood either way.
Keep scrolling for a playlist of all your summer songs.
ONE.
The sound of a block party on a 90 degree, 90% humidity day. Three of your neighbors are cooking out on the sidewalk, probably raising the temperature at least three degrees in your immediate vicinity. You wipe BBQ sauce off your chin with the back of your hand, sticky with lemonade.
Jill Scott - Be Great
RIYL: Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelleQueen Herby - MY SZN
RIYL: TLC, Lauryn Hill
TWO.
The sound of a beach vacation, of stumbling across the hot sand after baking in the sun so long that sweat and sunscreen congealed into little pools under the backs of your knees on your plastic chair. You would have gotten up sooner, but you had to find out how your book ended. Now you’re sun drunk and psyching yourself up to dunk your head under the frigid ocean water.
Lala Lala - Does This Go Faster?
RIYL: Björk, Portishead — trip hop gone pop.
Σtella - Adagio
RIYL: Greek folk music, Fleetwood Mac, Sade, The Ronettes
THREE.
The sound of staring wistfully out the window on a sunny Thursday afternoon before a long weekend, then suddenly learning your last meeting was canceled. Cross reference to: the sound of the last day of school before summer vacation.
Home Star - Weekends
RIYL: Weezer, Fountains of WayneTucana - Sun’s Coming Up
RIYL: Jawbreaker, The Get Up Kids
FOUR.
The sound of a backyard wedding circa 2011. Each picnic table is decorated with fairy lights and mason jars wrapped in paper bags. Every woman in attendance is wearing rose gold jewelry. Every man, a waxed mustache.
Junior Varsity - Cross the Street
RIYL: The Go! Team, The Ting Tings
FIVE.
The sound of having your girlfriends over for a pregame before it gets cool enough to abandon the A/C and venture outside for the actual party. You share cheap vodka and Four Lokos and crowd around the mirror to do your makeup that will sweat off on the dance floor in a few hours anyway.
Surfbort - Hot Dog
RIYL: Viagra Boys, Le Tigre, X-Ray Spex
Orla Gartland - Late to the Party
RIYL: Fiona Apple, Imogen Heap, St. VincentHaute and Freddy - Shy Girl
RIYL: David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys, Kate Bush
SIX.
The sound of enjoying a drink on the stoop after the first summer thunderstorm has passed, the air heavy with petrichor. You swat at mosquitos and daydream about having exactly half a cigarette, wondering whether to send that “WYD?” text to a recent bad decision.
Smerz - Feisty
RIYL: The Blow, The Knife, recession-era indie sleazeTV Girl - Summer 2000 Baby
RIYL: The Avalanches, St. Etienne
SEVEN.
The sound of the first overstuffed tote bag of summer fruits from the farmer’s market toppling over onto the kitchen counter because of your impatience. You gobble a peach up over the sink like a messy little piglet playing in its trough. This is the greed they spoke of in the bible.
Palehound - My Evil
RIYL: The Breeders, Bob Dylan, Elliott SmithShe’s In Parties - Summer Haze
RIYL: Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, hayley williams
Give me your own summer vignette and I’ll give you a song.
There’s 90 minutes of this in a playlist. Songs for dancing to, sweating to, and spacing out to.
The songs are new, but I hope they sound oddly familiar.
Playlist!
Coming up…
Discord members had a preview of this playlist yesterday at our monthly listening party. If you don’t want to miss the next one, mark your calendar for June 21st.
We also have a monthly book club! June’s pick is Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto. You have plenty of time to grab the book at the library and join us for a chilled out discussion throughout the month at your leisure.
The link to the Discord server is here (for paid subscribers only).
…or can I?! Now that we’re back to work, it’s supposed to be hot and sunny again!
Perfect soundtrack for this beautiful day on which I'm trapped inside editing all day. Also that Elder Island song just took me back to getting ready for or winding down after a rave because it sounds like two of my favorite pre/post-rave artists to play before/after I went out - Deee-Lite and Supreme Beings of Leisure.
Great suggestions!