Every year, discussion about what the official song of the summer is runs rampant both inside and outside of the music community. While there may never be a clear answer on who exactly earned that title, as the leaves start to change colour, now is the perfect time to reflect on the music — both new and old — that shaped my summer of 2024.
“104 Degrees” by Slaughter Beach, Dog:
I discovered “104 Degrees,” written by the collective genius of indie rock band Slaughter Beach, Dog, towards the end of April, just as the Northern Hemisphere was reuniting with the massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma we call the sun after seven long months of separation. While the song had long since made its rounds, having been released in 2017, “104 Degrees” felt fresh upon my first listen.
Bursting with uncontainable energy, this brash track builds a colourful sonic landscape around a simple four-chord progression. While you couldn’t quite call the vocalization on this song anything more than a rhythmic style of speaking, the skillful layering of electric guitar, bass, drums and synth create a constant state of urgency that matches the narrative content of the lyrics. With each verse bookended by a series of intense drum fills, “104 Degrees” is like a runaway train and as the track abruptly ends, the listener is left in a state of disembodied confusion.
While I am a fan of all of Jake Ewald’s many musical projects, “104 Degrees” and its iconic droning slide guitar would undoubtedly be the soundtrack playing at the end of the coming-of-age movie chronicling my final hazy summer as an undergraduate student.
“Guilty as Sin?” by Taylor Swift:
A fan favourite (or at least my favourite) from Taylor Swift’s newest album The Tortured Poets Department, “Guilty as Sin?” underscored the final days of my windswept spring and the early months of my languid summer with its synth-driven beat.
Track nine on the original version of the album, “Guilty as Sin?” is a laid-back, rolling take on the confusion surrounding the early days of an all-consuming romantic connection. Swift shows off her lyrical prowess in this song, each eloquent word backed by Jack Antonoff’s signature airy synth style.
The only new song here, “Guilty as Sin?” fought tooth and nail for its slot on the list, coming in as my most-played song in both May and June.
“Road Regrets” by Dan Mangan:
While I am admittedly unfamiliar with the rest of Dan Mangan’s discography, I am still going to ignorantly make the statement that “Road Regrets” is the singer/songwriter’s best song to date.
The first track of Mangan’s quintessential album Nice Nice Very Nice, “Road Regrets” takes its listener on a raring, raucous musical journey to create its brash and chaotic sonic soundscape. Built on the back of impassioned and fervent acoustic guitar, Mangan layers pounding piano, smashing symbols and a bold bass line to create a nearly unnavigable auditory panorama. As the song builds, Mangan’s vocals grow more desperate, pleading and raw, but never overpowered by the circus of sounds convening below him.
Completely untouchable in its pandemonium-like greatness, “Road Regrets” has consistently maintained its standing amongst a constantly changing landscape of my musical favourites, making it one of the most influential songs of my summer break.
While I cannot say for certain which of these three impeccable tracks would take the number one slot for my song of the summer, I do know that they all, without a doubt, will be remembered eternally as the music that made these past few months so insurmountably great.