Summer Songs

I'm working on a summer playlist right now, and in keeping with the Raveonettes vibe, I'm planning to include some other bands with female lead singers. Like Seapony

and Best Coast. I want this mix to evoke a light, relaxing-in-the-sun-drinking-beer kind of feeling. The sound also reminds me of Ivy and The Sundays, kind of soft and breathy. (I'm sure this not how the folks at Pitchfork would describe it, but whatever. Maybe these tunes have more of a pop sensibility with a lo-fi influence? I don't know. I'm sticking with soft and breathy). And these singers are also reminiscent of how Julianna Hatfield's voice sounded when she did backing vocals on the Lemonheads "It's a shame about Ray" album. (Horrible video, but so 90s. Who knew Johnny Depp was in this video? Also, it seems like on the tape that I had, Julianna Hatfield did more singing than in this video.)

Getting back to summer songs - I listened to the Sundays and the Lemonheads a lot the summer of '93. I remember driving around Whidbey Island in my '78 Subaru (the one that I later totaled)

and listening to "You're not the only one I know" and "Bit Part" while cruising up the island, looking at the way the sunshine came through the canopy of trees, while hoping that the $30 car stereo that my brother installed for me wouldn't crap out when I hit bumps in the street. It was a great summer of going to the beach,

hanging out, and waiting for college to start in the fall. There were probably some bad things, too, like being stuck in a small town working at a shitty job (sales associate at Kmart) with not much to do and being worried about whether I would do ok in college, but I've pretty much forgotten all that. I guess that's how your brain works. At least, that's how it is for me.

So, for my summer soundtrack of 2011, I'm going to include "Dreaming", "Late Summer", and "With You" by Seapony, "Boyfriend" and "Crazy for You", by Best Coast, something by The Raveonettes, and "Rill Rill" by Sleigh Bells, and probably some Ivy, and throw in a bit of The Sundays and the Lemonheads for nostalgia, and maybe "Walk in the park" by Beach House and "Weekend" by Smith Westerns, so Evan Dando isn't the only guy in the mix. And then I'll just see where it goes from there.

That's the nice thing about summer. It doesn't really matter if you have a plan, because it's warm, and ending up at the same bar you always go to seems special because you can sit outside.