
Summer goes official on the solstice (RIP Love Fest), but it was culturally official on Memorial Day, and I've already grilled burgers twice already and listened to a shameful amount of Grateful Dead, so it feels like summer. And yet, my search for the feel good hit of this summer continues. Contenders dismissed below.
1. Wilco -- Bull Black Nova
Sky Blue Sky snuck up on me on little Tweedy feet in 2007. I thought it sucked. Others agreed. It was in Volkswagen commercials; and I was horrified (rumors I owned a Volkswagen at the time could not be confirmed). But goddamn if the Nels Cline solo on Impossible Germany isn't one of the best musical moments of the decade. And I never held Passat Dream against Pavement. So now SBS is one of my go-to summer drive albums, along with disc 1 of Being There. While I'm hoping for some of the same on Wilco, Bull Black Nova is too much on edge for casual listening--it's kind of terrifying. (Also, Tweedy needs to drop the "wine-dark sea" construction, he used up his quota with "bible-black predawn" on "I Am Trying to Break your Heart.")
2. Grizzly Bear -- Two Weeks
I can't say much about this song that hasn't already been said by a dozen other blogs, but I'll mention that I haven't gone a day in weeks without listening to it, and it's a rare track indeed that gets that gets its hooks in me as quick and deep as this one.
3. Cymbals Eat Guitars -- Living North
Already covered. Already a little tired of.
4. Peter, Bjorn, and John -- Nothing to Worry About
I know this came out in January, but it cries out for summer. PB+J have a lot going for them here--90s Janet Jackson-y string sample, boom-boom-bap head nodding percussion, an ear-effing chorus (I think they lifted lyrics from their own song). It would sound right at the beach, it would sound right at the Black Cat. But it falls a little short. Too repetitive, too much Kanye association.
5. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart -- Young Adult Friction
First Everything with You was my favorite, all sunshiney innocence drowning in fuzzed out guitars, and who gives a crap what he's saying. Then it was A Teenager in Love, all ripping off Bowie and darkly comic and no one caring. Young Adult Friction is a solid single, though. It all comes together so quickly, the left-right-left beat, back and forth harmonies, library romance plot, and then by the time you get to singalong hook, it's all over. You win, Pains.
Bonus: The B side to the Young Adult Friction single--Ramona--may be up for best winter song.
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