5 Necessities For A Perfect Summer Soundtrack

What is a summer album? Beats me! The truth of thematter is, you just know one when you hear it. It could be The Beach Boys, maybe something less poppy but heavily influenced by California rock. Whatever it is, it has to be the perfect thing to rock in your 80s-style boombox when you're laid out on the beach with your friends, or the perfect album to play on your iPod when you're traveling through Europe or even mowing your lawn for your parents (a terrible, terrible tragedy by all means). To most of the world, Summer is just like the rest of the year...only hotter. But for all you college kids out there who just need some music to get you through the heat and hotties, here are my Top 5 recommended albums guaranteed to get your Summer going!

#5: Rilo Kiley: "The Execution of All Things" - It is less lo-fi than their debut, but not as emo as their third. Rilo Kiley's second studio album is the perfect fit for when you and your buddies are piled into your dirty El Camino headed to God knows where. The ladies love it, and as long as you have at least one or two hipster friends in tow you'll surely win some always-appreciated cred points.

#4: Of Montreal: "The Sunlandic Twins" - While you're away at school for the semester, your parents are busy huddled in an underground bunker devising the most cruel forms of manual labor that they can force upon you when you come home for the summer. So whether you're painting the house, building a deck, or mowing the lawn, Of Montreal's "The Sunlandic Twins" offers just enough sunny indie-pop goodness to take your mind off the fact that all your other friends are doing something infinitely more enjoyable. Besides, you can totally empathize with Kevin Barnes when he says "Let's pretend we're in Antarctica!" Believe me, when July rolls around in Texas, Antarctica is my #1 vacation destination. Now if only I wasn't poor.

#3: Incubus: "Morning View" - Of all of Incubus' albums, none feel more California-y than "Morning View," and that's a good thing! This is one you want to pump out with your buddies that don't wear chick pants or invest their money in hair products. The perfect album to play when you are all outside, grilling up hamburgers or tossing the football. It's not the manliest of albums, to be sure. But it's just manly enough.

#2: The Aliens: "Astronomy for Dogs" - This album will be released in the United States on June 19th, and if there was ever an album that would define the Summer of 2007 this would be it! Drawing from influences like The Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, and tons of other artists from before you were born, "Astronomy for Dogs" is a near-carefree album that is the perfect accompaniment to basically any activity that you could ever think of doing in the summer months. Unless of course sitting in a dark room all day writing poetry is your idea of a jam-up summer activity. In that case, I would recommend Portishead and/or anti-depressants.

#1: Rooney: "Rooney" - Rooney's self-titled debut is just waiting to be dusted off this summer! While it is clearly a rip-off of The Beach Boys sunny California pop, Rooney respectfully ganks the style and makes it something entirely their own. For a lot of college kids, summer is about going to the beach working on the tan. If you somehow find yourself engaged in such aterribly dull situation as this, "Rooney" is the perfect album to take your mind of the fact that you're, in all likelihood, giving yourself skin cancer for the sake of "beauty." Enjoy the melanoma, pawn. I'll be doing something more productive, like pouring hours upon hours into video games. *sigh* O summer!