Summer 2024 Playlist: Annotated

My Summer 2024 Playlist shreds. And in the rare moments it doesn’t shred, it boogies.

1) “Born to the Morning” by The Decemberists - I’m a proud millennial and generationally we are as yoked to The Decemberists as we are to avocado toast and light pink. Just let me pretend it’s 2006 and enjoy this new album, okay?

2) “Sinner” by The Last Dinner Party - With their debut album, The Last Dinner Party has quickly become one of my favorite new bands. They have early glam rock vibes—Aladdin Sane-era Bowie—and they honestly give The Decemberists a run for their money when it comes to baroque compositions. I would very much like to see them in concert someday.

3) “Return of the Ellington” by Rosalie Cunningham - All I’m saying is we need more musicians who are clearly influenced by Jethro Tull.

4) “World Without End” by Jobriah - I continue to be obsessed with this openly gay, American almost-Bowie who ended up living in the Chelsea Hotel until his untimely death in the 1980s. I must once again encourage you to read his Wikipedia article.

5) “Gisele” by Willa Mae - This recently popped up on a playlist Spotify’s algorithm made for me and it rules, I’m afraid. All hail our robot overlords.

6) “Headlights” by Katy Kirby - I had the pleasure of watching Katy Kirby open for the Mountain Goats when I visited Denver in April. Sometimes I think we have too many sad girls with guitars, but then I hear another one and I’m like…nope. There is infinite room in my heart for sad girls with guitars.

7) “0%” by Hello Mary - I love this song. It sounds like something a band would have played at the local punk/metal shows I went to in the Chicago suburbs when I was in high school (complimentary).

8) “I Wanna Live With You” by Opus Kink - I wish I could put on a music festival featuring all my favorite weirdo indie bands from other countries who never tour here. Opus Kink would be a headliner for sure.

9) “Laisses Tomber Les Filles” by The Cambodian Space Project - Look, sometimes you fall down a musical rabbit hole and you end up listening to lots of Cambodian rock. It’s a thing that happens. This is actually a cover of an old song written by Serge Gainsbourg—but if it sounds familiar, you’ve probably heard April March’s English-language translation, “Chick Habit,” which was featured in the movies But I’m a Cheerleader and Death Proof.

10) “Maxine (Witch Queen)” by Green Lung - Want me to like your music? Put an organ in it. That’s really all you have to do. Green Lung is also headlining my imaginary music festival.

11) “So Lucky” by Shannon & The Clams - We are so lucky to have a new Shannon & The Clams album! She has such a killer voice.

12) “I Want to Know” by Sugar Pie DeSanto - For a while Spotify’s algorithm decided I only wanted to listen to music that might have appeared in a late 1950s/early 1960s jukebox. And I mean, they’re not wrong—I’m always down to attend a sock hop. They were only wrong about the only part. Anyway, I was particularly struck by this little number.

13) “I Got The…” by Labi Siffre - A few weeks ago I was meeting with my local writing group at Trouble Bar when this song came over the speakers. It sounded so familiar, until I realized: Eminem! Of course the hook in the rapper’s 1999 hit “My Name Is” was a sample—but it had never occurred to me until that point. As it turns out, the sample is from this far superior song by Labi Siffre, a gay Black singer from 1970s England. Thank you for the tip, Trouble Bar!

14) “Champagne Shit” by Janelle Monáe - When Monáe released The Age of Pleasure last summer, I was not feeling very pleasurable. My dad had only recently died; I was still wrapped up in planning his memorial and navigating his estate. This summer, I decided to give pleasure—and Monáe’s album—another chance. It’s all working better this time around.

15) “Lucifer Waiting” by Angélica Garcia - In addition to the sock hop period, there was also a period where Spotify decided I only wanted to listen to Latinx artists. Again, no complaints! Found this gem on one of those playlists. Satan, a sick beat—what’s not to love?

16) “Badala Zamana” by Zohra - Look, sometimes you fall down a musical rabbit hole and you end up listening to lots of Arabic funk. It’s a thing that happens.

17) “Trago Coqueto” by Pachyman - Another song from the Latinx-artists-only period. It’s a bop. This song makes me long for Puerto Rico, which is quite a feat considering I’ve never been there.

18) “Take Me To the River” by Lorde - Overall I think that new Talking Heads tribute album is pretty hit-or-miss—but this Lorde cover is a good one. I miss Lorde! Hope she’s working on something new.

19) “Picture You” by Chappell Roan - Yes, I too have fallen under Chappell Roan’s powerful spell. Her music is dangerously catchy, and her style is impeccable. I’m itching to karaoke “Red Wine Supernova”—but I thought this sweet sounding song with dirty lyrics would be a better fit for summer.

20) “Rip It Out” by HotWax - Welcome to the playlists’s official punk rock interlude. This song is perfect for those burning summer days where you’d just scream if only you could muster the energy.

21) “Second Skin” by The Gits - This song popped up on a Discover Weekly playlist, and after some Googling I discovered that the lead singer, Mia Zapata, had been from Louisville. And then she was murdered?? In Seattle?? And Nirvana and Pearl Jam hired a PI to investigate?? But her killer wasn’t caught until 10 years later thanks to DNA evidence?? Amazed there hasn’t been a true crime podcast about this yet. She’s buried not too far from my house—I should pay her a visit.

22) “Santiladang” by Master Peace and Santigold - This song just sounds like summer. Doesn’t it? This is what it sounds like to walk down the hot sidewalk in your flip-flops while licking a delicious ice cream cone. I already loved Santigold, but now I’ll have to get into Master Peace and see what his whole deal is.

23) “Conceited” by Lola Young - Okay, now you’re still walking down the sidewalk in your flip-flops, but the sun is setting, and there’s a band playing on a patio nearby, so you start dancing, right there in public. That’s what this song sounds like.

24) “run!” by WILLOW - When “Whip My Hair” came out in 2010, who knew that Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s daughter would become one of the most innovative artists of her generation? She’s fearless.

25) “Daisy” by Wet Leg - Apparently this is a cover of a rap song by an artist called Ashnikko? I’ll have to get into her work next—but in the meantime, I am really vibing with Wet Leg’s version. Their arrangement brings a hint of the 1960s to the song—and you know I’m a sucker for the 1960s.

26) “Good Luck With Your Secret” by La Luz - A surfy dream to groove to on a humid summer night.

27) “The Future is a Foreign Land” by Ghost - I shall now attempt to make a long story short: Ghost, the Swedish Satanic metal band, recently released their first concert film in theaters. As one of their most devoted acolytes, I was there on opening night. According to lore, the band is led by a series of Satanic Popes, the first of whom was Papa Nihil. In the 1960s, he recorded three songs with Ghost—but only two had ever been found. Until the closing credits of the new movie!!! “The Future is a Foreign Land” is that third, lost song—a beautiful love song for the end of the world. (More bands need lore, don’t you think?)