10. Gliss – “Morning Light” off Devotion Implosion released by Cordless Recordings

9. brakesbrakesbrakes – “Two Shocks” off Touchdown released by Rough Trade

8. The Thermals – “When We Were Alive” off Now We Can See released by Kill Rock Stars

7. The Dodos – “The Strum” off Time To Die released by Frenchkiss Records

6. Faunts – “Feel.Love.Thinking.Of” off Feel.Love.Thinking.Of released by Friendly Fire

5. Heartless Bastards – “Out To Sea” off The Mountain released by Fat Possum Records, LLC

4. Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons – “Born Again”off Death Won’t Send A Letter released by Black Seal

3. Elvis Perkins in Dearland – “Hey” off Elvis Perkins in Dearland released by XL

2. The Veils – “The House She Lived In” off Sun Gangs released by Rough Trade

Note: Sun Gangs is terrible.  “The House She Lived In” however, is amazing.  Good for them, I say.

1. Jay Reatard – “There Is No Sun” off Watch Me Fall released by Matador

Past a certain age, I stopped getting excited about summer.  Everyone I know goes absolutely nuts over it too.  Gargantuan outdoor festivals, flip flops, and getting a tan, it’s all beyond me (I also happen to be an Asian with freckles, I’m a little bitter).  It’s just another season of the rest of our lives!  Summer vacation is a thing of the past!  Summer’s great for the first few weeks, but it’s a major turn off walking to work in 90+ degree weather for the fourth day in a row.  Throw in some steaming piles of sidewalk garbage and that 100-pound model over there wearing a pillowcase for a dress, and I’m ready to call the whole thing off.  Summer?  Fuck that guy.

While I realize that I’m turning into the youngest(ish) crotchety old man ever, I’ve been asked to put together a playlist of summer songs…and a playlist of summer songs you shall receive.  Hopefully, you’ll be able to appreciate it, even if you think us year-round hot coffee drinkers are dumb.  The following is a combination of mostly old, kind of old, and new favorites that I will likely be listening to until I can wear my beloved layers again.

1.  “Lessons Learned” by Matt & Kim – A song for all of the promise that late spring/ early summer holds.

2. “Sold!” by Enon – Enon + blips and boops = summer.

3. “Mary” by All – For those of you lucky enough to have an automobile to drive your pampered ass around in for the summer, this song by 3/4 of The Descendents is most effective with the windows rolled down and the dial turned up to 11.  Better yet, turn it up to 12.

4. “Rapture” by Pedro The Lion – I’m pretty sure that hot weather conjures up the sinner in everyone, no?

5. “Liquid Indian” by Guided By Voices – At times dark and gloomy, but when the keyboards and harmonies chime in at the chorus, you’ll realize why this is one of my favorites off of Do The Collapse.

6. “Deer Hunting Camp 17″ by Anni Rossi – I reviewed this album back in March, and made special mention of “Deer Hunting Camp 17″ for encapsulating the essence of summer in a bloated July.

7. “Butterfly Nets” by Bishop Allen – Sparse, lonely, and incredibly lovely.

8. “On Some Faraway Beach” by Brian Eno – I should credit my sister here, who was the first to coin this track a “late night road trip driving song”.  Ever since, at every listen, it makes me want to take off towards that wherever that may be.

9. “Here” by Pavement – I’m not breaking any ground here, but can you think of a better song to listen to when it’s nice out and you’re sitting on a rooftop a little too late at night and a little too many in?

10. “May Day!” by Elvis Perkins - Regardless of the title, regardless of the content, I’m going to quantify this track as an end-of-summer song.

11. “Cherry Tulips” (TJ Lipple Remix) by Headlights – If you’re wondering, I picked the track from Remixes for the extra kick.  I picked Headlights because Erin Fein’s vocals make me want to put on a sundress and do cartwheels in the park.  You need that sometimes, when no one’s looking.

12. “Everything That Happens” by David Byrne & Brian Eno – Yes, this is Brian Eno’s second appearance on this list but the man’s shit glimmers. I love him.  I hear that David Byrne guy is okay too.

13. “Nowheres Nigh” by Parts & Labor – If you do nothing else this summer, give 2008′s Receivers a listen.  Then go listen to Mapmakers.

Kicks by 1990s (Rough Trade)

Kicks is the perfect album to listen to when you’re driving to the beach with your girlfriends in your shi-shi bikinis with the top to your Volkswagen cabrio down.  Kicks is the perfect album to listen to if you’re one of those fucking kids from The O.C.  Kicks is the perfect album to listen to if you claim to drink diet coke because you actually like the taste.  Kicks is the perfect album for you if we didn’t get along in high school.

According to the MySpace page for 1990s, “they play blondes with a rock then roll out of a car!”  What the hell does that even mean?  I don’t speak Scottish.  Insipid lyrics, generic pop hooks, and some complete duds make up most of the album but there are a couple of songs I like.  Their successful songs are the ones with blatant sex appeal.  Singer Jackie McKeown yelps into the mic with a swagger that can be hard to resist.  “Kickstrasse” for example: popping Xanax and copping feels with that special someone…we’ve all been there, no?  Another standout is “Tell Me When You’re Ready”.  They had me at the song content and I’m generally a fan of harmonies and na-na-na’s (although Kicks is overrun with them to a fault).  This may also explain why I like the last track, “Sparks”.  It’s not great but it’s a simple, easy listen compared to the overstyling of the others.

Unfortunately, the rest of Kicks is tolerable at best but annoying as fuck if you’re in a mood.  “59″ and “Balthazar” are cutesy, breathy odes to various girls, both sung by the drummer.  I could handle “The Box” if it wasn’t for its tragic chorus where someone sings to yet another girl, “I think I’m gonna have to put you back in your box…yeah that’s the place I keep my pairs of socks”.  They supply a few more fast paced filler songs like “Giddy Up” and “I Don’t Even Know What Time It Is” that all sound the same, and the slower songs “Local Science” and “The Kids” are two tracks that fall flat.

So there are some good, some bad, but mostly mediocre things to be found in Kicks.  Sad, since it’s still the same 1990s from Cookies.  The elements they transferred over to Kicks just don’t take as well this time around, they seem formulaic instead of fresh.  Cookies was fun.  Kicks, not so much.  Anyway, run out and get it if you call summertime “beach season”.  Kisses!

Elvis Perkins in Dearland (XL Recordings)

I had never heard of Elvis Perkins in Dearland before this album.  It didn’t take long to find that there is no shortage of information on the internet when it comes to Elvis Perkins’ back story.  His well received first album, Ash Wednesday, was heavily influenced by the deaths of his parents and for his sophomore effort, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, he is backed by his live band with more songs of heartbreak and loneliness.  Don’t expect this album to leave you weeping in a corner though, it comes with some unexpected side effects.

Perkins happens to be known for taking typically depressing subject matter and writing somber yet celebratory material.  The album opens with “Shampoo”, in which Perkins sings “black is the color of a strangled rainbow, just the color of my love” over some harmonium, chanting, and harmonica, to haunting effect.  The following track “Hey” opens with bright chords and a churning rhythm that will have you swaying along but something is off.  The music is simultaneously hopeful and heartbreaking.  And so it goes, back and forth, for the remainder of the album.

That being said, there are some hits and misses for me.  I could do without some of the slower ones, especially the closing track “How’s Forever Been Baby”.  Meh.  I’m partial to “I Heard Your Voice In Dresden” and “Doomsday” which evoke images of traveling evangelists having a rip-roaring good time.  I would be interested to see these guys live just to see if I get moved by the spirit.  Another favorite, “Chains, Chains, Chains” may be the most representative of the overall tone of this album.  The brass section and strings seem gloomy at first but somewhere in the middle the key changes to major, skies clear, and everyone seems like they’re going to be alright.  Eventually, that is.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland surpassed my expectations considering I don’t usually like folk-rock.  But with lyrics like, “I love you more in death than I ever could in life”, I should probably give the genre another shot.  Perkins is a talented singer-songwriter and his band and their arrangements are excellent.  I look forward to hearing what they do next.  Catch them on their current tour, especially if you’ve never seen someone play the harmonium.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland on MySpace

Grrr…by Bishop Allen (Dead Oceans)

I was introduced to Bishop Allen at a Mates Of State show five years ago, and I liked them immediately.  Their debut album Charm School became part of my perma-rotation during late nights at studio.  When they released The Broken String I was surprised to find that their songwriting and production had grown, matured even.  Kind of like when someone takes a trip to Europe after graduation and considers their life changed because they’ve finally had real cappucino/french bread/olive oil or whatever.  Their second album was definitely better, but it wasn’t as fun.  I missed the rough around the edges sound that made up the first.

So that brings us to Grrr… Bishop Allen’s third full length release.  This may be my favorite to date.  Justin Rice and Christian Rudder have taken the orchestration of The Broken String and stepped back ever so slightly towards the rockingness of Charm School.  Listen to “South China Moon” if you want to hear Bishop Allen give a nod to what I can only describe as rock via The Cars (I love The Cars).  “Cue the Elephants” is a dead ringer for some Tom Petty song that I’m not going to look up the name of because Tom Petty creeps me out (I do not love Tom Petty) but it’s still catchy.  As for the rest of the album, I would be hard pressed to say that I dislike any of the songs.  In fact, the first seven or eight tracks are all good, especially “The Lion & the Teacup” and “Dirt on Your New Shoes”.

If I had to pick a bone with this album though, it would have to be its uneven track list.  The last few tracks are so much more low key than the beginning that you feel a little cheated out of a proper closing track or two.  Not a big deal at all, considering Grrr… is pretty much Bishop Allen on the verge of hitting their stride (more guitar! more strings! more oh-oh-ohs!).  All in all, I would definitely recommend this to Bishop Allen fans, new and old alike.

Bishop Allen on MySpace

Rockwell by Anni Rossi

Rockwell took a couple of listens before I warmed up to it.  I believe my exact words to fellow OKR staffer Carly were, “Anna Rossi makes me want to rip my ears off and and eat them so I may never hear that again”.  I also happened to be having an absolutely wretched day, but I digress.  So I gave it another try and found that I was unfairly harsh in my initial recommendation.  Rossi’s vocals are an interesting mix of Regina Spektor (without the pop polish) and Joanna Newsom (without the helium), but sweet all the same.  That, and she sings while playing the viola, which is kind of hard maybe?

If you’re already familiar with her debut EP, Afton, you may be pleased to find that all but one of those tracks have made it onto Rockwell.  New additions such as “Las Vegas” and “Deer Hunting Camp 17″ definitely round out the album and are two standout tracks for me.  For some reason, they make me feel like I’m sitting outside on a hot, sticky day in July, a welcome departure from the last days of winter.  By contrast, “Machine” and “Wheelpusher” are cute, upbeat tracks that should appeal to Spektor fans.  An honorable mention goes to her cover of “Living In Danger”, an Ace of Base song I haven’t heard since I gave my copy of The Sign away back in….2005?  What?  I’m a pack rat.  You’re welcome Dave Rychlowski, wherever you are.

So forget my initial reaction, I would recommend giving Rockwell a shot or two, or as many as it takes before you find yourself humming along to Anni Rossi’s plucky string accompaniments.  Her lyrics read like a dream journal (“this is a song about glaciers, this is a song about glaciers and flattttttennnnnn-ning!” – from the track “Glaciers”, go figure), and the instrumentals are discombobulating and unpredictable, yet appropriate.  In the end, I guess what it comes down to is that this album is fucking weird and that totally worked for me.