1. "Summer Boy," Freezepop A few crucial ingredients of a typical, good ol' American summer: barbecues, SPF 15, lemonade and community swimming pools. This upbeat electronic ode to the aforementioned items is whimsical and laid-back, just like summer should be.
2. "Another Sunny Day," The Happy Couple It's hard not to turn that frown upside down when the sun is relentlessly bearing down on you like some kind of galactic smiley face. So this summer, the fact that The Happy Couple is actually a happy couple won't aggravate your bitter, single self. The song's lyrics, like "cotton candy clouds and a bright blue sky," are the perfect complement to idyllic daytime romps through open meadows.
3. "Crazy Frog," Crazy Frog Some people say this song is annoying, and those people are right; but there's no denying the strangely appealing quality that the face of the song - the computer animated frog with exposed genitals, decked out in what appears to be a leather biker vest and an aviation helmet - brings to your ears, and consequently, your heart. This song is so repetitive that playing it through once sounds like you're playing it through three times, but hey: It definitely gives you more than what you bargained for.
4. "Beginning to See the Light," The Velvet Underground After the suicidal thought-inducing four-month span of time that is winter, having the pleasure of living through a week where the temperature doesn't drop below 65 can result in violent and uncontrollable defecation (in the best way possible). Keep listening to this song throughout summer to avoid taking for granted the sexy, balmy nights of July: As soon as fall semester begins, winter will be lurking just around the corner, poised and ready to strike at your mental well-being.
-CECILIA CAMPBELL-WESTLIND
1. "School's Out for Summer," Alice Cooper No summer would be complete without Alice Cooper heralding the end of the school year and welcoming you to his nightmare summer. Because really, what's a summer vacation without the ice cream truck, a swimming pool and a boa constrictor that spits blood?
2. "Beach Party," Annette Funicello That's right, folks. Annette "Shaggy Dog" Funicello put out an album in the height of her drive-in fame, and it is a must have for any summer jams collection. "Beach Party" is the perfect soundtrack to those days when Frankie Avalon is too distracted by some new girl (who may or may not be a mermaid) to notice your gorgeous new polka dot bathing suit, not to mention body builders taking over the beach.
3. "Rock Lobster," The B-52's The quintessential beach party track, this hit from new wave pioneers The B-52's will have you practicing all of your dance moves and dusting off that bouffant wig. If you're turning over every rock to find that fabled rock lobster, here's a hint: It's under the dock.
4. "Summertime," Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff This is the ultimate summer jam. Smith is right; the summer is a natural aphrodisiac. It will keep your west Philadelphian barbeques, and your hearts, flaring all summer long. So turn on your Alpine and let Jazzy Jeff's beats carry you through till next semester begins.
-JEFF LAMBERT
1. "Everyday I Write The Book," Elvis Costello The background vocals single-handedly carry this song into that happy zone of loudly pumping something with the windows rolled down. We all know it's a rare and special song that commands such a categorization and Mr. Costello nails it. It positively radiates warmth.
2. "Deep Red Bells," Neko Case New Pornographers songstress Neko Case taps into the grime and heat of a summer filled with thankless work and fear with her song "Deep Red Bells," written about a murderer who haunted her art school campus years ago. It's all summed up with the line, "It looks a lot like engine oil and tastes like being poor and small, and Popsicles in summer."
3. "Gumboots," Paul Simon Paul Simon's "Graceland" might be the world's greatest album. South African band Ladysmith Black Mambazo pulled out all the stops to make it a charged album that reckons with apartheid and politics with finesse. Simon wails, "You don't feel you could love me but I feel you could." Pump this in your kitchen while eating hemp pancakes on a sunny morning. Why does summer make some of us feel like hippies?
4. "Good," Better Than Ezra This jam's goodness is due almost entirely because of its inclusion in the hit film, "The Baby-Sitter's Club." Claudia Kishi had mad troubles with summer school and her affable crowd of babysitters and kin developed a song and dance routine, later cinematically set to the tune of these frat-dudes-turned-shaggy-hair'd-alt-rockers.
-JEN TURNER
1. "Head On," The Jesus and Mary Chain During the summer, we confront so many things head on - sleeping 12 hours a night, consuming boxes of red, white and blue popsicles, dancing when we thought we could dance no more. Excess is the word of the season, and The Jesus and Mary Chain tackle this issue in a song about going to the dirty part of town and truly taking things head on.
2. "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" Ted Leo & The Pharmacists Some questions may never be answered. After conferring with Jerry, Terry, Lynvall and Rhoda, Ted Leo seems to be no closer to determining the whereabouts of all the rude boys. Regardless, summer is the time to break out the two-tone -- or at the least two-tone tributes.
3. "Story of My Life," Social Distortion With the hullabaloo that is summer, sometimes you need to take things down a few notches. For those late summer nights, driving around in dad's pick-up truck, crying about that girl in front of the class who never seemed to notice that your silly school-boy crush wasn't just pretend, there's Social D. Go ahead - let out it all just this once.
4. "Teenage Riot," Sonic Youth The end of school signals extra time to start a revolution and stick it to the man. Thankfully, Sonic Youth provides the perfect soundtrack for teen uprisings. At nearly seven minutes long, this song brings more riot bang for your summer song buck. Things getting quiet in your city's head? Get back on the riot trail this summer with the indie rockers that can bring everyone together.
-MIA STEINLE
1. "Don't Save Me," Marit Larsen Whenever I imagine summer, I always dream of doing all these neat and sporty activities that could be featured in a montage from a mid-'90s Disney live-action film - perhaps "The Parent Trap." Though I likely won't have a water balloon fight or ride a tandem bike with anyone but myself this summer, I can still dream.
2. "Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me," The Pipettes Is there anything more magical than a summer fling? It is a beacon of light for those whose romances during the school year left a lot to be desired (sigh), providing hope that there will be someone out there for you, even if it only lasts two magical weeks and always ends up at the beach at night. The Pipettes recognize this fact, and have supplied a song for the summer game of love that is either for the quick or the dead.
3. "What's Up," Clipse It's simple: I crave bangers like this song. Bangers that I can drive down A1A during the evening time with the bass playing so loudly that I'm assured to move my brain fluid. Bangers that will make every elderly person dining along the beach think twice about coming to my hood again after 5 p.m. My iBook's speakers cannot supply the force I need for an adequate banger - only when I go home and am given the keys to my mother's Volvo do my dreams come true.
4. "Season Cycle," XTC Not that there is a concept of seasons in south Florida, but summer just feels different. Of course, there wouldn't be an aurora of awesomeness around summer without the three other seasons, and "Season Cycle" always reminds me of this fact. That's the great thing about life: As long as I still have a little gas left in the tanker called my life, there's always another summer.
-DREW ROSENSWEIG
