The music has shined through recently with all your summer music needs. Depending on your mood, you could throw on full albums like Great Peacock’s Making Ghosts for your southern summer, watching the sunset from your front porch. Or maybe the perfect fun summer album, doo-wop 50’s-60’s rock vibes from Coma Girls self titled album. Guantanamo Baywatch‘s Darling…It’s Too Late has the surf rock vibes. Leon Bridges‘ Coming Home may just be your perfect album for all your summer moods with the 50s-60s soul making a comeback. Seoul is bringing back chill wave, a summer staple, with their album I Become A Shade.
Recently the good danceable indie pop/rock has started coming out just in time to get those bods moving this summer with Stokeswood, LA Priest, Robert Delong, and more. And don’t forget about the potential summer smash hits (at least they should be) in Jamie xx’s “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) and Beck’s “Dreams”. Of course Tame Impala’s “Let It Happen” and Alabama Shakes’ “Don’t Wanna Fight” should have already been blasting through your speakers and continue to do so all summer.
We have curated a playlist of songs for all your summer needs on Spotify. The playlist starts out a little lighter as you set up shop by a pool, beach, or lake and works it way into the upbeat section of the playlist to get the bods moving with some dance-y tunes, mix in some rock ‘n’ roll to keep you going, and some funk or soul music. The playlist takes you till you start winding down after too many drinks in the hot sun, setting up shop on your front porch to take in the last of the sun’s rays as the sun goes down. And well, once the sun goes down on a hot summer night after a long day of drinks, the night could go in so many directions….enjoy!
Now we take a look track by track:
Leon Bridges: “Smooth Sailing” – Leon Bridges get’s us Smooth Sailing with some upbeat throw back soul that feels like the perfect start to any day.
Fake Flowers: “Summer Crashes In” – Let summer come in with Atlanta’s Fake Flowers and their dreamy shoegaze.
Ducktails: “Headbanging In The Mirror” – Real Estate’s Matt Mondanile brings those sunny/breezy vibes with his solo project to your summer.
Father John Misty: “True Affection” – FJM takes it a little electronic as he gets the crowds moving. Bonus points for anyone wearing FJM’s Innocence perfume while doing their best J. Tillman dance impression.
Eternal Summers: “Come Alive” – Eternal Summers wants you to Come Alive this summer with this little jam.
Mac Demarco: “The Way You’d Love Her” – Mac wants you to understand just what it means to Love Her with grooves that only Mac can provide to your speakers.
The Dig: “4th of July” – The Dig gets spacey like it’s the 4th of July everyday.
100 Watt Horse: “Hold It” – Get in the car, roll the windows down, and explore the landscapes and get trippy with 100 Watt Horse.
Alabama Shakes: “Future People” – Brittany Howard and the Shakes get funky and want you to listen loud and reach the top.
Leon Bridges: “Coming Home” – No matter where you are or where you come from, there’s a a memory of that young summer love, and this old soul perfectly encapsulates that love.
Diamond Rugs: “Killing Time” – Because every summer party needs some good ole fashioned beer drinking rock ‘n’ roll with this super group. After all, we are all just killing time, enjoying the ride.
Will Butler: “Take My Side” – Arcade Fire member, and Win Butler’s bro, gets the party going with this throw back rocker. We are gonna take Will’s side and party with him all summer long.
Bully: “Picture” – Bully is pissed off, hates it so much and doesn’t want a picture. Rock on ladies, we can relate.
Motel Pools: “Lemme Walk Your Dog” – This playful song with a little of a 50-60s doo-wop vibe is a great summer young love song with a little help from some friends (vocals from Ryan of Man Man and produced by Kyp Malone of TVOTR).
Peach Kelli Pop: “Nude Beach” – Burger Record’s own Peach Kelli Pop brings the pop-punk jams to your summer.
Seoul: “Silencer” – This upbeat chill wave jam just has that feel of traveling through the city, bright lights flying by, windows down, and taking it all in.
Panama: “Jungle – Sydney’s Panama brings a smooth electropop song with driving synths to your summer.
Jamie xx: “Loud Places” – xx frontwoman Romy Madley-Croft rejoins her compadre, Jamie xx, for what could easily be one of the songs of the summer. “I feel music in your heights, I have never reached such heights”. One of those songs you just have to feel as you dance along.
Tame Impala: “Let It Happen” – The 1st single from Tame Impala’s eagerly anticpated album Currents should already be blasting from your speakers. Kevin Parker returns with an almost 8 minute spaced out jam with some added R&B funk.
Tanlines: “Slipping Away” – Things start kicking into gear here as you are getting those tan lines out of the way with a great indie pop jam.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra: “Can’t Keep Checking My Phone” – UMO brings the funk to your summer with their latest album, Mulit-Love, and this is a song we can all groove too right along with Ruban Nielson as we keep looking at our phones every 5 seconds for that text from a special someone.
Guantanamo Baywatch: “Mr. Rebel” – Nothing like a good surf rock jam for your summer listening.
Beck: “Dreams” – Beck has always been able to mix up genres and with “Dreams” he returns to songs that get the bodies dancing with what should be one of the smash hits of the summer.
Stokeswood: “Paperweight” – Stokeswood has hit with an album full of electro pop jams that will be having the kids dancing through the summer.
Ravi Shavi: “Amphetamine” – Garage pop band, Ravi Shavi, provides the Amphetamines for your party. “I”ve got that little something special in my system.” “I feel good just like I should”. We hope you all feel good on that summer high.
Shamir: “In For The Kill” – Shamir delivers the dance floor ready pop vibes.
Cheerleader: “A Million Ways” – Philly’s own Cheerleader with their power pop knows who they are and they aren’t planning on changing.
Joanna Gruesome: “I Don’t Wanna Relax” – Noise punk band just doesn’t want to relax this summer, feel their angst and then maybe relax yourself.
Robert DeLong: “Don’t Wait Up” – Robert DeLong doesn’t want you to wait up, he’s got a restless mind, instead you should just blast this song and dance the night away.
Diamond Rugs: “Voodoo Doll” – Diamond Rugs has you jamming out with a strong horn line and upbeat rock.
BITERS: “Restless Hearts” – Rock ‘n’ roll at it’s finest, just in time to party through your summer with BITERS. “Oh yeah, all right, it feels good to be alive.”
Hot Chip: “Huarache Lights” – London’s electronic group Hot Chip have been making those dance beats for a while, and their latest Why Make Sense brings it strong. This song just feels like taking the curb around the roller skating rink dancing all the way home.
Django Django: “Shake & Tremble” – London’s Django Django gets you moving with spacey jams that sound like an updated 60’s psychedelic trip.
Alabama Shakes: “Don’t Wanna Fight” – “What you like, what I like, why can’t we both be right?” Heard. Can we all just blast this song together this summer and party together instead of fighting? Let’s just all agree, this is good stuff right here.
Yumi Zouma: “Dodi” – Find love in the club with New Zealand’s transcendant pop princess.
Miami Horror: “Love Like Mine” – Australian electro pop quartet bring the psychedelic funk-pop to your summer afternoon that’s hard to resist dancing along too.
Low Cut Connie: “Shake It Little Tina” – Tina Turner blasting from the radio station used to seem like a summer staple, Philly’s Low Cut Connie brings it back with a jam you can just see Tina shaking it too.
Painted Palms: “Disintegrate” – San Fran’s Painted Palms drops the beat and wants you to Disintegrate with them on their 80’s dance floor ready jam.
FIDLAR: “40oz. on Repeat” – Sometimes you just need to get a little angry and LA’s FIDLAR works it out through a song and 40oz of booze on repeat “because everybody’s got somebody, everybody but me”.
Jamie xx: “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” – With a little help from Young Thug and Popcaan, Jamie xx molds genres together to create one of the absolute songs of the summer 2015 and one impossible to sit still during.
LA Priest: “Party Zute/Learning To Love” – Producer Sam Dust creates an epic over 8 minute funk collage with EDM beats, 70s pop and funk to take you on a wild ride.
Young Fathers: “Shame” – The Scottish-Nigerian-Liberian hip-hop act bring the funk.
Bully: “Milkman” – Bully rocks out being whatever they want to be, whether a milkman or something else, so should you.
Foals: “What Went Down” – Foals new single is a rager just in time for summer.
Modest Mouse: “The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box” – The Modest Mouse single is a party song we can all jam to this summer.
Thundercat: “Them Changes” – With help from Flying Lotus on the keys, Los Angeles bassist-producer Thundercat gets all funky on this track.
Yukon Blonde: “Saturday Night” – Vancouver’s Yukon Blonde perfects a song for your Saturday night on the town.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra: “Multi-Love” – You can’t forget the funky title track from UMO’s latest, they have got their own brand of funk that is irresistible.
Crocodiles: “Foolin’ Around” – San Diego garage rockers get spacey with danceable riffs from this single.
Chris Stapleton: “The Devil Named Music” – Time to get a little toasty and sing along with the country music’s newest star making actual “good” throwback country music.
The Soul Motivators: “Love Thing” – Toronto’s vintage funk band brings back that old sound we can all dance to with a strong horn line and some spacey sounds to keep it interesting.
Gardens and Villa: “Fixations” – Santa Barbara’s (now LA) Gardens and Villa has been one of the best live bands around with their psychedelic sounds with a 60’s-70’s era pop vibes, and their latest single from their upcoming record is just another one to add to the collection. This song will have singing about your “fixations” all summer long.
Future Islands: “The Chase” – Samuel Herring wants to know is this love, or the love of the chase? Something we can all understand as we get in a groove with Future Islands.
Banditos: “The Breeze” – Honky Tonk rock ‘n’ rollers from Birmingham, Al kick it up a notch as you enjoy that summer breeze.
Mark Ronson: “Daffodils” – Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker joins producer Mark Ronson for one of the jams of the summer. The little time together seems to have influenced Tame Impala’s new album and surprisingly we are all the better for it.
Hot Chip: “Easy To Get” – Hot Chip keeps the bods moving with an uptempo groove that’s hard to resist.
De Lux: “It’s a Combination” – LA’s De Lux has created a funky masterpiece with an ode to LCD Soundsystem and Holy Ghost! with a little Talking Heads worked in.
Day Wave: “We Try But We Don’t Fit In” – Oakland’s Day Wave sings about not fitting in but trying, it’s a breezy single that we can all relate too that is more hopeful than sad.
Jaakko Eino Kalevi: “Hush Down” – Helsinki’s Jaako Eino Kalevi with a deep baritone voice and dance club worthy beats brings a downtrodden single that you can get down with.
Tame Impala: “Cause I’m a Man” – Kevin Parker sings “Cause I’m a man, woman, Don’t always think before I do, Cause I’m a man, woman, That’s the only answer I’ve got for you” as in ‘I’m a human, I’m merely a man’, something we can all feel as you sing along.
Coma Girls: “Car Alarm” – Coma Girls new self titled album is a throw back to the 50s-60s jangly pop rock ‘n’ roll and the first track just feels like the summers of yesterday.
Jacco Gardner: “Find Yourself” – Do psychedelics and summer go hand in hand? I’m not sure but it sure feels like you should “Find Yourself” this summer.
Gengahr: “Embers” – Gengahr feel like somewhere between and MGMT and Tame Impala, this track from their debut album A Dream Outside jams hard.
American Wrestlers: “Holy” – This track just feels like one of those hot, dog days of summer.
Great Peacock: “Gulf Dreams” – Nashville’s best folk rock band takes down to the Gulf where the beaches are white and the drinks flow.
Coma Girls: “Saturday Night’ – This simple doo-wop rock song just perfectly captures those summer romances.
Best Coast: “Feeling Ok” – LA’s Best Coast is Feeling Ok with those sunny California vibes.
Weisshund: “What You Came For” – It’s a stemming hot, late summer night and bluesy garage rockers Weisshund has got the feel for it.
The Arcs: “Outta My Mind” – The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach’s new side project, a garage rocker with a psychedelic spin is perfect to keep your summer going.
Great Peacock: “Go Back” – Great Peacock take you back to where the fields are growing, to that southern summer sitting on your front porch and enjoying that slow southern life.
Chastity Belt: “Joke” – Chastity Belt provides another one of those dog days of summer hits where everything is just a joke with a killer groove behind it.
Lord Huron: “Fool for Love” – We have all had that summer love where we are nothing more than a Fool for Love and Lord Huron, brings a fun one for your summer sing alongs.
John Moreland: “High on Tulsa Heat” – John Moreland is one great songwriter, able to easily give you that midwest feel throw his songs. Moreland is high on the Tulsa heat this summer with one of the year’s best tracks.
Great Peacock: “Summer Song'” – Great Peacock has one of the perfect records for your summer and here they get all into that summer feel with this track.
Andrew Bryant: “Lose My Shit” – Andrew Bryant’s This is the Life is one of the year’s best albums by far, and in this track, the singer songwriter and one half of Water Liars, loses his shit in a song, something we can all do this summer.
Ryan Adams: “Burn In The Night” – The great RA is back with a great new single for your summer nights.
Guantanamo Baywatch: “Beat Has Changed” – This little throw back surf rocker will have you jamming right along.
Jason Isbell: “Something More Than Free” – Is there a better more consistent songwriter today than Isbell? He is just out there doing what he was born to do and we are all better for it. As the sun is going down, play this track and get all the feels.
SUSTO: “Friends, Lovers, Ex-Lovers Whatever” – From SUSTO’s 2015 live album, for those friends, lovers, ex-lovers, or whatever, just know that we will always care.
Chris Stapleton: “When The Stars Come Out” – As the sun goes down and the stars come out, put on this beautiful track and enjoy the good life with one of “real” country music’s brightest up and coming stars.
Small Houses: “Revel” – Flynt, Michigan’s Small Houses is making some of the best folk/alt-country tunes around, and this is one his best songs from his latest album Still Talk; Second City.
Leon Bridges: “Pull Away” – The sun is down and that summer fling hasn’t quite worked out, Leon Bridges has a beautiful track for you.
Great Peacock: “Church Bells” – “Lay Me Down, There Beneath the Southern Ground, the Church Bells will Make the Sound”, you can hear them ringing.
100 Watt Horse: “Wann It” – “It’s a lonely, lonely time to be alive” 100 Watt Horse gives a great little ditty with a hopeful spin, “If you wann it, I want you to know, you can have it, and anything else.”
Blue Blood: “Everyday Is Yesterday” – It’s late August, steamy and your reliving the summer, and only Everyday Is Yesterday.
Chris Stapleton: “More of You” – With this beautiful country ballad you can’t help but grab that loved one for a dance and tell them how you just want more of them.
Cayucas: “Dancing at the Blue Lagoon” – Santa Monica, California has just gotten Cayucas that much more sunny and they take us dancing in the blue lagoon this summer.
Mac Demarco: “Another One” – Mac drops another single on us that takes you on a slow groove trying to understand if there is another one she loves.
Leon Bridges: “Lisa Sawyer” – We are all looking for our own “Lisa Sawyer” this summer with this gorgeous track.
SOAK: “Sea Creatures” – With a beautiful, playful voice, SOAK takes you on a journey as if you were a dolphin in the sea floating away.
Lord Huron: “The Night We Met” – There is always that first night, when you’ve met that special someone that sticks out as one of your greatest moments, relive it with Lord Huron.
Alabama Shakes: “Gemini” – One of the best tracks from the Shakes phenomenal album, Brittany and the boys slow it down, sexy and groovy. “I looked at you, and you looked into me, And we saw in each other, everything, We knew no fear as we grooved through, Best of growing up, we’ve come to love”
My Morning Jacket: “Only Memories Remain” – reflect with MMJ on the memories you’ve made.
Active Child: “Stranger” – Active Child is crooning and it’s always sexy time when he does.
Chromatics: “I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around” – Hot summer night, windows down, breeze coming through, Chromatics taking you to another world.
Avid Dancer: “Nobody Else” – Avid Dancer slows it down and wants nobody else.
Seoul: “Haunt/A Light” – The title track from Seoul’s new album is a dreamy one with a sexy groove.
Mandolin Orange: “From Now On” – Mandolin Orange has you for the wonderful, sometimes lonely late summer nights on the mountain top.
