It’s that time of year: when music critics assess the singles of the last few months and pick the definitive summer song of the year. Mine probably wouldn’t make any of these lists, but the one single that’s most deeply wormed into my brain this season is probably Aimee Mann’s Freeway. Watch the video, and see if you can see her lips move!
I know, not exactly a beach song, but I’m not exactly a beach person. And there is a line about a boardwalk in there somewhere. Her new album, @#%&*! Smilers, is actually my least favorite in several outings, but there’s something hypnotic about the repetitive hook in this song—that fingers-drumming tension, then the release in the chorus, then back to the tension. And summer songs are all about repetitive hooks, right? Maybe this is beach music for someone who goes to the beach in jeans and a black jersey, and sulks.
(By the way, Mann sponsored a Freeway video contest on YouTube, if you’re curious just how it sounds to hear a 7-year-old girl sing “They’ll sell you all the speed you want.”)
OK, your turn. You can even nominate that Katy Perry song.
