August is already finished, and while the pessimist in all of us might want to drivel about how fast the last three months have passed, there are still a couple weeks left to BBQ your hearts out and crank some of those cliché summertime tunes. While the following tracks may not totally fall within cliché boundaries, I guarantee they will add sufficiently to any summertime playlist not yet maxed out with chilled out sounds and/or upbeat melodies.

 

First on the list is Caught Me Thinking by Barrie, Ontario’s, Bahama’s. Known in real life as, Afie Jurvanen, a great deal of his music falls within the Indie Folk Category. Caught Me Thinking, however, contains a unique California Jazz Rock sound evident through spacey guitar chords and a 60’s style tube amp. It is also a great introduction to the artist himself and establishes to listeners why he has been chosen to work with such acts as The Lumineers, Feist, and Jack Johnson.

 

Hailing from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Beirut’s musical style can be described as a mixture of Indie Rock and World Music. Sante Fe is an upbeat track where lead singer, Zach Condon, describes placing himself back in a sort of “youth mindset” he recalls before moving to Brooklyn to start his musical path at 17 years old.

 

Red Hot Chili Pepper’s are obviously no strangers to anyone, having a career that spans over three decades. Bicycle Track, however, may be unfamiliar to some listeners as the song was never a part the original tracklist of the band’s 2002 classic, “By the Way“. It was instead released as a bonus for the 2006 ITunes version. Highlighted by catchy verses and an even catchier chorus, Bicycle Track is a perfect fit to any summer occasion you can think of.

 

Continuing with the theme of older music, Summer Babe by Stockton, California’s highly influential, Pavement, is a song that has found its way to many people’s summertime playlists. While it may not contain the most upbeat or happy melody, it certainly adds a sense of variety that is needed to make any playlist great.

 

Next up is a track so summery that it should be a crime to play it during winter time, unless you want to be ironic or something. Originating from Brooklyn, The Drums add an interesting modern Indie Pop touch to the Surf Rock genre. Let’s Go Surfing, released in 2009, is the band’s first official single recorded shortly after their formation in 2008.

 

Perth, Australia’s, Tame Impala, have been one of the key figures of the psychedelic rock revival scene since 2007. Their debut album, “Lonerism“, was released to critical acclaim and saw the introduction of one of the band’s most well received tracks, Feels Like We Only Go Backwards. The heavy drum beat and drawn out keys provide opposing sounds that work together to create an almost perfect psychedelic piece.

 

London based, Phoebe Killdeer, began her first solo project circa 2008 and subsequently formed the band, The Short Straws while experimenting with her own music. With her newly formed side project she went on to record two albums, “Weather’s Coming,” and, “Innerquake,” the latter of which included Fade Out Lines. The song, released to minor critical success would go on to become a massive universal hit after French Deep House artist, The Avener, composed a remix in 2014. Both versions actually provide a great summer playlist addition, however, the original seems to fit the theme slightly better due to the slower vibe.

 

Rising Montreal group, Elephant Stone, are becoming known to the international Indie scene through their combination of traditional Indian elements and Western psychedelic rock. Frontman, Rishi Dhir founded the band in 2008 after exploring Indian classical music, which prompted him to add certain aspects of the genre to his already established inspirations such as, The Kinks and, The Beatles. Andromeda serves as a great introduction Elephant Stone’s unique sound if you have not already discovered them.

 

Equal Mind by Baltimore’s Dream Pop duo, Beach House, provides listeners with the perfect combination of synthesizers, beach guitar and melodic vocals for those looking to zone out completely. French-born lead singer, Victoria Legrand, and Baltimore raised, Alex Scally, began the project in 2004 when they met through the city’s local indie scene. Equal Mind was written for the pair’s fourth studio album, “Bloom.”

 

To end the playlist is the perfect “nod-out track” from London based four piece, Zola Blood. Not much is known about this recent addition to the Independent scene other than the fact they are beginning to attain notoriety outside of England thanks to their recently released debut EP, “Infinite Games“. Good Love is calm and eerie at the same time with a beat similar to Closer by Nine Inch Nails and sung in a high octave melodic tone.

 

Hopefully the aforementioned tracks are enough to provide at least a little bit of musical discovery and added happiness to the remainder of your summer. For more information on the artists, just click the links attached to their names. Until the next playlist, check out the rest of the website for plenty of great musical content. Cheers.

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About The Author

Collaborator - RREVERB

Born into a musical family, I’ve been heavily addicted to playing and listening since the first time I laid fingers on my grandmother’s dateless electric organ. My father was an acoustic guitarist who loved CCR and my mother was a competitive tap dancer in her youth. These surroundings lead me to the guitar where I eventually trained myself in jazz theory and began to involve myself in my hometown’s music scene. Moving to Montreal has only expanded this lifelong passion and the city’s vast diversity has provided for me an endless journey into new musical discovery.