Any respectable summer is too full of bike rides and picnics to provide any real chance to keep up with current music releases. Luckily, your editors at The Daily Cardinal don't have fun summers, and are here to provide you with a list of some of this summer's most essential jams.
Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains
Staten Island's hype machine that is Cymbals Eat Guitars crafted one of the most eclectic, well-versed landscapes of an album that's emerged from the Internet. Epically potent in both its ferocity and fragility, Why There Are Mountains is one of the more complete debut albums in history. It's a near fully actualized album by a band that aims for nothing short of grandiosity. From the first yelp from frontman Joseph Ferocious, Why There Are Mountains is instantly intoxicating, and does nothing but reward repeated listens.
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
It was hard not to go to a cookout this summer without the instant classics ""Listzomania"" or ""1901,"" but it was even harder not to hit ""repeat."" Phoenix's charm goes beyond their innocence and moxie: Their breezy synths and steady rhythm create a form of beach pop, with added swag. Airy and confident, this is an album best heard in space. Projected through outdoor speakers, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix—and the rest of Phoenix's catalog, for that matter—leaves a delicious marinade on finely grilled bratwursts and hamburgers, and sets the perfect tone for the kind of easy going outlook that every summer deserves.
Future of the Left – Travels With Myself and Another
Future of the Left has two speeds: walk and kill. Their bass-heavy motors and explosive vocals aren't especially fit for barbecues or beach volleyball games, but their mesmerizing hooks and insatiable fury are tantamount to throwing down real, real hard. If Andrew W.K. spent less time partying and more time whooping ass and writing legitimate hooks, he would record an album probably half as good as Travels With Myself and Another.
The Smith Westerns – Smith Westerns
Of all of this summer's essential releases, Smith Westerns was likely the most surprising. Combining dirty, nay, filthy guitar hooks with their teenage howls, Smith Westerns took on male teenage angst with the same roughshod, girl-crazy enthusiasm that fuels all-night ragers and forays into vandalism. Their potent take on jangly pop carried the band from high school auditoriums to national tour spots with Los Campesinos! and Girls. In a world where the Jonas Brothers play at the Super Bowl and Kings of Leon's generic slush headlines major festivals, Smith Westerns is the kind of debut that makes you believe in rock and roll all over again.
Passion Pit – Manners
If there is one word to describe summer, it's fun. And when it comes to clean, good-humored fun, few albums this summer rivaled Manners. The bass-heavy beats paired with Michael Angelakos' piercing falsetto synthesized a forceful punch of whimsy and raw power. Above all else, Manners is essential for its universality. It provides an equally effective soundtrack to both baggo and a dance party, but its reservoir of energy is probably best suited for the space between the two.
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Dirty Projectors put Ivy League pop through the grinder. Their vocal experimentation mirrors their music's, bending the laws of pop music to the breaking point and shattering them into a thousand little pieces. Instead of playing one note, they play five or six in a row, stringing them into the type of jumble that denounces convention for a radical spin on chaos. What's so remarkable about Dirty Projectors is that even at their most insanely disorganized shit-hits-the-fan disaster, everything is kept tight, exquisitely in line with the song's identity. Each messy, frayed trill is well kempt and cleanly organized. The result is a gloriously hungry album that is, despite its marked departure from Ivy League pop's clean-cut conventions, a perfect soundtrack to sun, tea and croquet.
Japandroids – Post-Nothing
Much has already been written regarding The Daily Cardinal's affection for this Toronto duo's debut, but we'd be remiss not to mention an album that so completely embodies the carefree youthfulness of a truly epic summer. Post-Nothing is the kind of careless dedication that transcends season. Whether in biting cold or torturous heat, Brian King and David Prowse's ferociously intoxicating enthusiasm suits the elements. But when it comes to genuine enthusiasm and inspiring a pure sense of carpe diem, nothing stands up to the rampant voracity of Japandroids.
