Summer Jam 2010 Early Candidates

Last weekend I posted some of the best songs to play to get pumped for Summer. Everyone had a lot of fun. Summer '010 is fast approaching though, and its got its own cadre of songs that are about to assault the senses in order to vie for the Coveted Crown, King of Summer Jam '010. There's a few preliminary candidates that I think (and hope) have potential which I'll describe for you now:

A lot of these songs are overplayed already and so may fade quickly by the time we get into full beach and bang mode for the Sunny Months. Others are just emerging or have some hook that could guide them to Summer Stardom. Let's begin with another track from Last Summer's Champion:

Black Eyed Peas - "Imma Be"

This song is so stupid. It's just stupid enough to catch on really well just like "Boom Boom Pow" did over the first half of Summer last year. Also, what the hell is it with these artists and really long, moronic videos lately? I can't describe how dumb this is. It boggles my mind, I didn't even want to embed it and waste your time here, just take my word for it instead of watching it. For some reason the band is arguing about becoming Robots, and then in a motorcycle crash Fergie dreams they ARE Robots, I don't know, I can't figure this shit out. All I know is that this is the perfect song to use for Jerry Seinfeld's next animated movie but no one has made a good OAV for it yet. This comes close enough. Anyway, it could very well be a champion, stay tuned.

La Roux - "Bulletproof"



This video also greatly angers me. She seems to want to take all the awful parts of the 80s that were left out of Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), CGI it up and smother it in a good coat of queer. She also looks nasty, but not in an ironic Lady GaGa way. The song's alright and its nostalgia-factor should be a plus with hipsters and college girls alike. By the way, among recent songs named "Bulletproof," Raheem DeVaughn takes the title.

Spose - "I'm Awesome"



Yeah, this song should fill egos enough to catch on. It also mentions Facebook a lot, is catchy as hell and has this whole Asher Roth feel that was immensely popular this time last year. It's just too full of youth zeitgeist to be ignored for that much longer. It's also got enough irritating postmodern irony to appeal to a wide generation of poser mobile-phone iPad users. Do I generalize enough? Hopefully enough to catch what will catch on, this kid is small right now which is a plus, people think they're into indie shit when they recommend him, no video yet that I can tell but enjoy (or don't) the song here.

Rihanna - "Rude Boy"



Suddenly this song is everywhere for some reason. It might not reach the ubiquitous status of "Umbrella" from 2007, but it's done pretty well so far. Not as great a song as Hard was earlier this year, but her fashion is still equally retarded. The only thing that will stop this track from being a serious contender is that it's broke just a bit too early, its popularity won't last through the hottest months.

B.o.B. ft. Bruno Mars - "Nothin' On You"



This video is actually pretty cool. Like "Rude Boy," this song is everywhere already, although it's actually a good song so I don't mind it as much. So far. I mean, c'mon, it references Nintendo 64, you gotta love this track. It's a very smooth, haunting song in some parts (I'm picturing the "oooh oooh ooohs" in the background), and reminds me of either a Drake or Jeremih song from last year but with a lot more class. I'd like to see this do even better, but chances are it won't.

Lady GaGa - "Alejandro"



This song is more out of place than Christina Aguilera singing in Spanish. But it's GaGa, it's about guaranteed to be a hit. Of all the songs here, this would be my pick for King of Summer Jam 2010. It's got that Mexican Flair that begets sweaty heated balls, a smooth beat, GaGa's silky vocals and immense popularity and virtual control of our American Pop Music Zeitgeist. She's coming off her two biggest hits, "Telephone" and "Bad Romance," and this song is superior in every way to both of those. It was sent out to Radios about a week ago, so its timing is perfect. Everything is stacked in its favour, we'll see if people catch it right or are suddenly sick of hearing nonstop GaGa on their stations.

Gorillaz - "Stylo"



That is not "Stylo," but it's got as good a chance as already-released "Stylo" to become a great Summer Track. Plastic Beach is one of the greatest albums any band has released this decade (or last decade), and the direction in which Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett are taking this fake band is pretty interesting. Personally, Gorillaz are one of my favourite bands and one of the few bands for which I own every album (I'd say Beach edges Demon Days...barely). So I'm pushing hard for "Stylo" to rock it out but if not an even more Summer-y Song, "Superfast Jellyfish" drops as a single May 9, but you can of course listen to it above. They're actually saving the best song on the album, "On Melancholy Hill" for a release later in 2010. Have a listen and change your life. Anyway, I've heard some radioplay of "Stylo" already so that has a good chance of catching on, but likely not to an extant as some of the others on this list. It should be reminiscent of a "Know Your Enemy" from Green Day last year or a "Violet Hill" from Coldplay in 2008. The best rock track of the lot for summer...but it won't see airplay over the GaGa.


So that's what I've got. Next week with the start of the Official Summer Movie Season (that is with the first release of a bloated blockbuster tentpole pic, Iron Man 2), we'll start tallying and figuring out which song will rise to the top as King Summer Jam of 2010. Stay tuned, dear readers, stay tuned.