Roll Call The A.V. Club guide to the best under-the-radar summer songs

It happens every year right around this time, driving music fans and radio programmers crazy. That’s right: It’s the dreaded quest for that ubiquitous “summer song,” that one big jam that’ll be blasting out of car windows and boomboxes constantly until Labor Day. Look, The A.V. Club likes summer songs just fine. (Our vote’s for “Call Me Maybe” for the song of 2012.) They get a little boring after a solid month in heavy rotation, though, so why not throw some more under-the-radar summer classics into the mix? These tracks aren’t new, and they might not have the literal wit of Will Smith’s “Summertime,” but they fit the season’s mood just right. Trust us.

The Hentchmen, “April”
Officially, summer may not start until June 20. But as far as anyone who lives with the four seasons is concerned, the end of winter marks the beginning of summer. What is spring but the foreplay leading to summer, and thus part of summer itself? Anyway, this seems to be the tenor behind “April,” an insanely catchy number by Detroit garage trio The Hentchmen. “I waited all winter long just for April to come” perfectly dovetails the layered vocal harmonies of summertime with the song’s melancholic production. Truly beautiful and fun and sad—basically the whole range of emotions that mark summer itself. (JS)

Captain Beyond, “Sufficiently Breathless”
The 1973 sophomore record from British/American hard rock band Captain Beyond was a marked departure from their debut. Sufficiently Breathless trades the post-Deep Purple, organ-driven rock of their self-titled first record for a series of airy, quasi-psychedelic compositions. The album’s title track sets the tone for this and, if you’ll allow it, for your whole summer. “Sufficiently Breathless” is a breezy number pushed along Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt’s guitar and percussion by Guille Garcia. There’s also the silly, hippie-ish lyrics like “Gargoyle watching the bouncing ball / Strangers mystified by all.”  But it’s all easy to forgive as the song glides towards its blissful solo and outro, like the feather from Forrest Gump guided on a summer’s breeze. Never has the foreboding refrain “Nothing left to live for” seemed so exultant and uplifting. (JS)

The Modern Lovers, “Girlfriend”
The shadowy syndicate that determines the unofficial songs of the summer seems to lean more toward upbeat tempos. The Modern Lovers’ only album contains a few tracks that would fit that description. But near the back of the album, after the “Roadrunner” has long past, “Girlfriend” comes on so slowly with a cooling sensation perfect for summer weather. You can think about how air-conditioned the Museum Of Fine Arts in Boston is as Jonathan Richman mentions visiting “the room where they keep the Cézanne,” you can sing along to the chorus as he brilliantly misspells “girlfriend” to stay on beat, and you can just relax as the rickety guitar solo, wandering bassline, and shambling piano drive it home. The song may be aiming for melancholy but when it’s this hot and humid, this turtle-timed glass of iced tea feels better than anything. (BM)

Suckers, “Turn On The Sunshine”
It’s right there in the title: Suckers’ “Turn On The Sunshine” aims to bring about the sun and all of its good, libido-enhancing vibes with the flip of a switch. Kicking in with a gilded update of Len’s “Steal My Sunshine,” the song is lightweight summer pop in nearly every sense: Bright, shiny, simply catchy, and with just enough warped touches to never be cloying, and enough know-how to end before wearing out its welcome. And, like the best pop songs, it’s embedded with easy-to-crack double entendres, from the verses’ sweet-talk for an easy fling (“If there’s room in your tree, honey / I won’t shake off the leaves”) to the carefree, womanizing coda (“Once content becomes desire / you will love me too.”) Plus, the intro sounds like a fun tandem bike ride (if that exists), and the solo ekes out notes like the last few drops of lemonade. (SM)

Los Lobos, “Kiko And The Lavender Moon”
“Kiko And The Lavender Moon” isn’t a daytime song, unless that day is so hot all you can do is lay on your kitchen floor. Instead, it’s slow, smooth, and dark, making it the perfect song for sultry summer nights spent laying in hammocks and drinking margaritas on a dark porch because, well, you’re just too lazy to get up and turn on the light. Later this year, Los Lobos plans to re-issue the record, Kiko, that this track came from, which should hopefully result in clearer, crisper versions of the track, or maybe a release on vinyl, which would be all too perfect. The crackling sound a dirty record can make would make this song all the better on a hot Sunday evening. (ME)

Third Eye Blind, “Semi-Charmed Life”
“Semi-Charmed Life” is a little cliché as far as summer song choices go, but that doesn’t make it a bad pick. There’s just something that feels so special about cruising down an open road on the first really nice day of the year with the windows open blasting this jam. Sure, it’s dumb, and sure, it’s 15 years old and by kind of a weird band, but you can’t help but scream along with the chorus. This song also is one of the rare ditties that gets better the more you jam it, so it rewards repeated beach boombox listeners. As to whether sunbathing neighbors will concur, well, that’s another story. (ME)

Brian Eno, “St. Elmo’s Fire”
It’s important not to mistake this for John Parr’s syrupy ballad with the same name. This “St. Elmo’s Fire” is the bewitching track from Eno’s landmark 1975 album Another Green World. It may seem a weird choice for a “summer jam,” what with its odd lyrics about rushing down wires and scrambling through briars, but there’s something about the way its layers of repetitive piano, synthesizer, and percussion boil over into an incredible, unearthly guitar solo—by Robert Fripp—that communicate a sense of barely restrained mania and boundless joy that feels for all the world like being very young, very alive, and out very late on a perfect summer night. (CC)

Belle And Sebastian, “I’m A Cuckoo”
Twee and summer don’t usually go together, but this Belle And Sebastian jam from their surprisingly summery Dear Catastrophe Waitress is a bouncy, chiming song perfect for summer adventures if you dismiss the subject matter of the song (getting over a break-up). It’s no “Fuck You,” but if you’re the type who likes wearing your cardigan buttoned up even when its 90 degrees outside, it’s a fun tune to blast. (MG)

The Hold Steady, “Constructive Summer”
While The Hold Steady doesn’t hold the cool cachet it did just a few years ago, its music still retains its thunder. Witness the rollicking “Constructive Summer,” driven by pounding drums and charging piano, Craig Finn and company make a call to arms to be, well, constructive (and get hammered). Take it as instruction as well as a great tune to blare from the car stereo. (MG)