2024 Songs of the Summer!!!!!!!!!!!

Boy howdy, it's been a while! Lots happenin' and movin' and shakin' am I right? How about those Celtics huh? Not bad. Anyways, I figured it's been simplytoo long and to dust off the ol' blog and give a good ol' fashioned list of my songs of the summer 2024. No one gives their songs of the Summer! It's a novel idea. While I am older and wiser, my taste in music has...well...not really changed to be quite honest. I still like what I like and I hate what I hate. Despite the fact I have to take a daily magnesium supplement and my body sounds like a haunted house with all the creaking, cracking moaning and groaning when I get out of bed, I can still give a hot take or two on the current scene. I don't think I've mellowed any. I still am a firm believer that country music is proof that God is real and he hates us all. I just don't want anyone to think I've lost my fastball. With that, let the takes begin and let me give you, Dearest Gentle Reader, my top 10 songs of Summer 2024.

10. Jaguar Love- Polaroids and Red Wine: Catchy! Dance-y! Indie Sleaze vibes! There's synth! This makes me want to throw on some American Apparel and reminisce about the last post by Hipster Runoff. Usually I don't care for songs involving the word sunshine, but I make an exception here because the line "I was in the back of my car, sleeping in the sunshine, polaroids and drinking red wine, sleeping in the sunshine, sleeping in the sunshine" sounds like a good enough time to me. It's not higher on this list for 2 reasons: it came out in 2010 (did anyone hear of Jaguar Love before? I totally missed them back in the day) so it loses some points for not being new. The other reason it's at 10 is because I tried listening to the rest of this album and it is not worth your time. This song is a true bop, though, and worth a full listen on the Spotify machine!

9. Militarie Gun- Thought You Were Waving: Probably the most somber of the list but still worth your time. Militarie Gun is one of those new young bands that gives me hope of a decent future for rock. Their song 'Very High' is a gem, but their newest single 'Thought You Were Waving' just came out this month and it is a delight. It may not be as poppy as the other songs here but it gets the job done. It is annoying to deal with spellcheck while writing about them but whatever man, I'm wishing Militarie Gun all the best and to keep the hits coming. Maybe not a true Summer anthem, BUT  it mentions drowning and that can happen in a beach or a pool so there's some depressing summer vibes to give things a nice boost! 

8. Dreamkid- Chrissy: I've been digging the amusing and oddly specific subgenre that is known as Synthwave lately. How to describe synthwave... Think of the music playing in Stranger Things when the kiddos have to quickly ride their bikes from a rendezvous in the woods and make it home just in time for Mrs. Wheeler to serve a piping hot TV dinner that can be washed down with a Crystal Pepsi. Where the hell was I? Oh yeah, anyways I've been checking out various synthwave stuff staring with the soundtrack to Ryan Gosling's smash hit film Drive and I've become a fan! Through the power of Instagram I discovered synthwave maker Dreamkid (@Dreamkid83 on instagram) who posts wildly accurate descriptions of his songs. He has cooked up music for situations like "it's 1987 and you're walking along the beach after an an intense argument" or "it's 1986, you're at your office late at night doing some after hours work and you end up in a passionate session with your attractive boss on a desk". I wasn't even born in the 80's and the music he makes for these situations are always on point! He has an album Daggers that came out recently, but his song 'Chrissy' has been gracing my speakers pretty often all summer. Give Dreamkid a follow and listen to his stuff! He also has a terrific synthwave reimagining of What's My Age Again that I hope makes it to Spotify at some point.

7. Peach Kelli Pop- The Sign (Ace of Base) cover: Peach Kelli Pop rules. I think she has a great voice and I love that bubblegum pop rock style. 'Heart Eyes' is my favorite song of theirs but this summer I have been cranking their cover of The Sign, by Swedish sensations Ace of Base. To me, a good cover is done in a new style, without making the cover too weird. I want to be able to at least know what song is being covered, and not totally reworked. This one is a fun ripper that is at a much faster speed than the original, giving it a nifty little dash of punk rock to it. PKP absolutely nailed this one and it will brighten up even the grayest of beach days. 

6. Japandroids- Chicago: I love the enigmatic Japandroids. Best thing to come out of Canada since Pam Anderson in my opinion. Japandroids love to release music, tour for an ungodly amount of time and then go radio silent for years. This was the case for the past 6 or so years but last week the radio silence was ended when they announced a single, and that their next album will be their final one. I will be sad to see them go. for a band consisting of just a drummer and a guitarist, they kick a lot of ass. While their previous album left me wanting more, I have faith with their new single 'Chicago'. It's their true sound. There is a good anthem type of aesthetic and vibe to Japandroids and 'Chicago' fits it well. The only thing I don't understand is how the hell it didn't come out in time for season 3 of The Bear? Would've fit in perfectly in my humble opinion. Oh well. Maybe we can get it in season 4 during a scene where Carm inevitably loses his damn mind. Long live Japandroids!

5. FIDLAR- DOWN N OUT: As a Fidiot, I will always champion these guys. When this came out last week I texted the news to my dear friend Dan Allen. His immediate response? "Those guys hate sobriety". He's not wrong! Like any good skate/surf punk band from California, songs about partying and getting fucked up and laid and drinking and drugs and burritos and surfing are always going to be FIDLAR's bread and butter. This one strays from that a bit. I gotta say DOWN N OUT is kind of a love song? It's rather refreshing! It is not a real raging ripper of a loud punk song that you may thing. It's more of a melodic love song from the guys. I enjoy the shit out of this and it fits into the summer vibes. 

and now, for the final 4, I'd like to make an announcement: I am having a Brat Summer.

I have hitched my wagon to Charli XCX. Let the record show that while this blogpost is a little late, I was on it before Kamala Harris! I love the idea of a brat summer. I want a revival of Indie Sleaze and this is a perfect dance sleaze album to lead the charge. It's banger after banger. This is what Katy Perry thought she was going to do this Summer with her awful Woman's World album that is currently flopping. Suck it Katy Perry. You've been nothing since Left Shark upstaged you. This is Brat Summer and either join the bandwagon or get the hell out of the way! I love the whole album so I'm not going to droll on and on about how awesome every song is, but here are my top 4 with brief explanations

4. Apple: Apple is a bop. It only loses points because of the TikTok dance that goes along with it. I hate TikTok and it's stupid dances. What are kids doing these days? Go shoplift a pack of smokes and chill at at a dead end of a street or something. This generation makes me sick. Ooh let me make up a lil jig and hopefully millions of other nerds will copy my lil jig. GOD I HATE IT. Anyways Apple is a great song. 

3. Mean girls: Divine! Simply divine! Excellent work here by Chuck XCX. I especially like that it has a beat that reminds me of David Guetta featuring Akon's hit song 'Sexy Bitch'. I hope some of you read that just now and had an AHA! moment. I sure did when I realized what song it reminded ME of and I'm feeling proud. Besides the beat and the description of the type of girl who would have ruined me back in 2013, the little keyboard solo there in the middle is a nice change of pace. This one is for the mean girls...and me I guess. 

2. 365: It's about damn time we got a club anthem that mentions doing a key and a line. Drugs in clubs ain't dead after all, folks! Bump it, indeed. The beat is so catchy it makes me actually miss being a wallflower at a club sipping on an extremely overpriced gin and tonic and not making a move on any girl. Ah, those were the days! Retired occasional club kid gives this the ultimate stamp of approval. I even want to...dance. This song does it all: slaps, bops, fucks, hits and is just overall one hell of a swell tune! 

1. 360: It's the song of the Summer. Book it! I wanted to be annoyed by the fact that the Julia mentioned in the tune is in fact Julia Fox. I totally get it. She was a scene queen and has an aura about her blah blah blah. It works for the song. My issue is I can't stand Julia Fox and the way she says "Uncut" and "Gems". She really annoys me. Because of this, I decided to not think of Julia Fox when I listen to this song. I replace her with Julia Child. Problem solved! Try it for yourself if you are a Julia Fox hater like me. "I'm so Julia, ah ah ah ah ah" is a lot more fun thinking of the queen of french cooking shows! For real though, while it obviously has the same beat as 365, it stands out on its own. It was a total toss up between the two for the number one spot but I give the edge to 360. Just because I can. 

I look forward to reading your reports on how you spent your brat summer due the first day of school. I hope you all have a wonderful brat summer. I know I will!