The last few summers I’ve been struck by inspiration to make a nostalgic playlist that reminds me of summers past, or hypothetical romanticized summers from alternate timelines. The building process for this one playlist always ultimately balloons into making multiple; there are too many bands and songs that I want to include in the snapshots from the time. Last year I made four late 00s / early 10s electronic + synth pop playlists (Sun Glitters On Cool Water + Electric Eel Boogie + Melting Portal Vision + Sunset High Dive). These tracks brought an air of humidity, but in a tropical sense, ideally helping you visualize sitting at a pool or lounging on a beach. Just pure pleasure.

This year’s playlist inspiration stems from the garage rock overflow of the late 00s into the mid 10s. In the summer between high school and college, I accidentally “reformatted” my iPod, deleting its contents. This was in the middle of a move from the midwest to the east coast, and my family’s home computer with all my mp3s was many states away. In its stead, I solely listened to free mp3 downloads I’d source from Pitchfork, Stereogum, Gorilla Vs Bear via my new laptop for college. Thankfully 2011 was a pretty fertile ground for exciting fuzzy rock artists, with Ty Segall, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Thee Oh Sees and White Denim all putting out records. Additionally the two following summers (2012 + 2013) when I was working full-time at my college’s radio station and ingesting more garage rock provided fuel – all the tracks in this playlist are from 2008-2013.

Temporary Heatstroke is the starting point in this series. So many personal classics for me on this playlist, many spent listening in my car back in the last month I lived in Michigan, or spending time with new friends in Connecticut. There’s a gauntlet of all-timer bangers right at the end, a skull-caving Sleigh Bells track, heavy driving jams from La Sera, Mikal Cronin, Royal Headache and more. It’s a shaggy, fuzzy, and high-energy summer playlist to bring you back to the turn of the decade.

Listen to Temporary Heatstroke on Tidal | Qobuz | Spotify

1. Ty Segall – “You Make The Sun Fry”
2. Parquet Courts – “Borrowed Time”
3. White Denim – “It’s Him!”
4. The Babies – “Slow Walkin”
5. Mikal Cronin – “Apathy”
6. La Sera – “Please Be My Third Eye”
7. NO JOY – “You Girls Smoke Cigarettes?”
8. Times New Viking – “Move To California”
9. Dum Dum Girls – “Jail La La”
10. Royal Headache – “Psychotic Episode”
11. King Tuff – “Bad Thing”
12. Yuck – “The Wall”
13. Crocodiles – “Summer of Hate”
14. No Age – “Fever Dreaming”
15. Sleigh Bells – “Infinity Guitars”
16. Frankie Rose – “Know Me”
17. The Fresh & Onlys – “Waterfall”
18. Bleached – “No Friend of Mine”
19. Milk Music – “Cruising with God”
20. Chad VanGaalen – “Blonde Hash”
21. Women – “Narrow With The Hall”
22. Lotus Plaza – “Strangers”
23. Ty Segall Band – “Wave Goodbye”
24. Thee Oh Sees – “The Dream”
25. DIIV – “Doused”