Summer 2026 Playlist: Annotated

Summer 2026: Rooooooooooooooooooock music. (With a few interludes, of course. I’d never resign myself to only a single genre.)

1) “Rock Music” by Charli XCX - This song had to go first. It’s the theme of the entire playlist!

2) “TEETHSUCKER (YEA3x) by Rico Nasty - I missed this album when it came out last year but I’m glad I finally caught on. What a gnarly little bop.

3) “Public Domain” by Poppy - Poppy’s latest album stomps all over you with this opening number. I was immediately taken by it.

4) “SORRY! CRASH!” by Ecca Vandal - I have a suspicion that Ecca Vandal is going to become one of my favorite artists. This song in particular is so manic and raw. (“Manic” is a good descriptor of the type of music I’m interested in at the moment.)

5) “DANCE…” by Slayyyter - I was initially going to use a different Slayyyter song, since this one has been getting so much airtime online. But let’s face it: this is the song of the summer. And I’m willing to bet WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA is the album of the year.

6) “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter” by Lana Del Rey - I was so frustrated when she dropped this single in February, since I knew I’d have to wait all the way until June to put it on a playlist. So summery, so sinister.

7) “Long Face” by The Vampire Lestat - Every once in a while, we are blessed with a fantastic fictional band. Josie and The Pussycats from the 2001 film adaptation, for example. And who could have foreseen the global pop chart domination of HUNTR/X from K-Pop Demon Hunters? The Vampire Lestat, from AMC’s Interview with a Vampire series, has joined these hallowed ranks. Gorgeous bloody glam rock.

8) “Come Over, Do Me Wrong” by Opus Kink - Whennnnn will Opus Kink tour in the States? I’m obsessed with them. They sound like they’re going to tempt us all into ruin.

9) “Highway Man” by The New Eves - This band makes me want to join a rural English cult (complimentary).

10) “Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds” by The Mountain Goats - I always love the Mountain Goats, but their most recent work has lacked a certain oomph. I was pleased to hear that oomph return in this new single.

11) “Stay in Your Lane” by Courtney Barnett - Enjoying Barnett’s newest album. I can’t explain it, but I feel like this could be a Beatles song from A Hard Day’s Night. Or at least a music video for it could be filmed that way—black and white, quick cuts of Barnett and friends running around, doing zany, pointless things.

12) “holy mystery” by Willow - This song makes me want to a cult on the beach (complimentary).

13) “Here Comes That Crow” by LEENALCHI - I almost skipped this album when Qobuz recommended it to me because they categorized it as “K-Pop,” which isn’t normally my thing. But it’s not really K-Pop. It’s more like…K-Psychedelic Folk Rock? Very cool stuff.

14) “Sarniezz” by Angine de Poitrine - Probably the most inventive band I’ve heard in years. Nobody is doing it like these becostumed, Québécois weirdos. At some point I will probably travel a long distance just to see them in concert.

15) “Welcome to Hell” by black midi - Earlier I said I was into manic music lately. I’m also into discordant music lately. Enjoy?

16) “Charity Dinner” by Lip Critic - More manic goodness for you. Definitely adding Lip Critic to my list of bands to keep an eye on.

17) “FENIAN” by Kneecap - Earlier this year my friend Meg showed me the biographical Kneecap movie, and I was hooked. Irish rap? Into it, apparently. This title track off their latest album is great.

18) “Blackberry Marmalade” by Vince Staples - This song sounds like when your car has been sitting in the sun all day and it’s super hot inside and it’s taking forever for the air conditioning to kick in (complimentary).

19) “Cursive” by Mandy, Indiana - A song that’s manic AND discordant! Lucky you!

20) “How We Be” by Sinkane - I can’t remember how I stumbled across this song. But it’s a little funky—and what is summer without any funk?

21) “SERPENT” by Castle Rat - Let’s put on chainmail bikinis and go to the Renaissance Faire, okay?

22) “Envy the Birds” by Death Cab for Cutie - Death Cab is normally a fine-in-the-background-but-not-otherwise-memorable band for me (as opposed to Postal Service, which is iconic). But this latest album is about grief, and I’m vibing with it.

23) “Sigui” by Fatoumata Diawara - What can I say? I like artists from Saharan region of Africa. I know we’re supposed to be all about physical media, but without streaming music, I would never have discovered that I like artists from the Saharan region of Africa, and for that I am grateful.

24) “White Patent Leather” by Bedouine - Delighted that there’s a new Bedouine album. This track late on Neon Summer Skin particularly struck me. There’s something a bit odd about it. It’s summer, but don’t get too comfortable with all that sunlight. Winter will be here before you know it.

25) “The Arbiter” by Bryce Pinkham and the Broadway cast of Chess - I try to make these playlists reflect what I’ve been listening to in the months prior to their creation. And ever since I went to NYC earlier this month and saw Chess on Broadway, I’ve been listening to the cast recording nonstop. The songs are written by ABBA, after all. Catchy as hell.

26) “Cards” by Doja Cat - My thinking was that this song has a strangely similar intro to “The Arbiter,” and both songs have 80s vibes. Hopefully that transition works for you!

27) “Dance the Pain Away” by Haute & Freddy - Boy do we need to dance the pain away right now! Stop doomscrolling and take a dance break. That’s an order.

28) “Stupid Bitches” by Grace Ives - This song sounds like sunlight through trees and also scraping your knee (complimentary).

29) “expectations” by Olivia Rodrigo - I’m still digesting Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, but this one is fun. The opening riff is giving Devo or The Cars.

30) “There’s No More Underground” by Master Peace - Hello and welcome to the punk section of this playlist. (It gets punker from here.)

31) “Special Unit” by Party Dozen - This punk band is from Australia and they have a saxophone. (The internet classifies them as a noise rock band. Sure, whatever. Fine.)

32) “Tips” by Xiao Xiao - I think I saw this artist on TikTok? I think they’re also Australian? When I click their website link, it appears to open in a Google spreadsheet? I’m intrigued.

33) “Big Dog” by The Last Dinner Party - Closing things out with this absolute howl of a song from The Last Dinner Party. I was nearly feral watching them perform it in Ohio a few weeks ago.

Need more Summer music?