[Songs My Son Should Know] Summer Soundtrack Part II (2012)

How does the saying go?  Better a shit summer day in Northern Michigan than a good day in the furnace of Central Texas.

Only, fucking hell, the weather didn't exactly cooperate this year at all, and all the beanies I packed with glorious anticipation of an icy 65° became just beer padding for the plane ride back home instead. 

Sweaty or not, there are few things better than having fuck all to do with anything beyond starting a fire in the woods and popping the caps off regional beers with the ass-end of a cigarette lighter.  Oh, and the grilled meat.  Grilled meat is also a large part of our summer zodiac; along with a relevant and a highly anticipated summer soundtrack.  No other season tithes your memory bank quite like summer jams do -- songs made more magnificent by persistent twilight and the aromas of hops and burning animal flesh .  This is how we've come to know summer.

During our trek from Detoit to Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's Upper Peninsula by way of Traverse City, and then back down again to Detroit by way of Lansing -- a trip that canvassed 1200 miles of the country's shittiest roads -- we somehow missed the iPod auxiliary connection cord that sat dormant in the glove box of our piece of shit rental.  This made for a lot of regretful words as we're pulling into the rental return at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.  We listened to a metric asstonne of horrible early-aughts Nashville Country and everything Clear Channel throws at its insipid audience.  It got really bad at about the 600 mile mark, so a lot of times we just drove in silence, waiting for another campsite with which to plug in the portable iPod player.  

 At those interim checkpoints, there were three songs that persevered over the summer lull, each with a distinct memory of another great summer trip -- this time with our small rapscallion in tow.

The Walkmen | Heartbreaker

We discovered very quickly how awesome this album was by the early part of the summer, particularly during the drinking hours -- so we thought we'd bring it along for a nice holiday.  We didn't however, realize the greatness of this particular track until we were somewhere above the 45th parallel.  Every summer needs a poppy track to get the momentum swinging towards epic.

Beach House | Wild

One of the byproducts of camping, and nature-ing in general, is the inevitable request for a foot hike.  Look, I really DO enjoy hiking.  Hiking is fun -- but Melissa tends to overestimate my will and ability to haul 200lbs across uneven terrain in the dead of day.  One time she took me on a 5 hour hike through the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil's Ilha Grande that led to a secret, gorgeous beach (#humblebrag) -- only it wasn't so secret when a boatload (like literally a boat-load) of rested tourists sauntered up to our spread with their own, freshly folded tapestries. So, fuck hikes.

This time, Melissa took my ass through the Vietjungles of Tahquamenon Falls which felt more like survival than recreation.  Melissa at one point wanted to stop and eat some chips and I was thirsty as balls so I had to use most of my will power to not crush the damn chips in protest.  Also, there was the minor threat of bears eating our small child as we waddled through Charlie-land. 

So, what better way to ignore these concerns than to chirp indie hits at a mostly deranged decibel level?  Song of choice: Beach House's Wild.  We eventually made it -- out into the gorgeous mouth of the Falls and up into the local brewery. 

Dirty Projectors | Impregnable Question

There is always a cerebral point in the summertime -- or at least something to reflect on.  I guess I was too lazy to really think during the summer, coming off a crazy year, but this song felt like it fit that bill.  Its a great song for long rides and last calls. 

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Yeah, its a concise setlist due to dumbassery on my part, but I think that its pretty poignant and speaks well to the adventures of Enzo's first summer in Michigan.
 

You can enjoy the tracks of [SMSSK] all in one place! [An Avenue] is down with Spotify, so clickity click.