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Somewhere in the vast array of tubes, pulleys and chutes that make up the world wide intarweb, there is a thread in the music forum here on DIMP where I asked the following question...
Do you change what you listen to based on the season of the year?
I noticed this happening to me about five years ago. Different seasons bring out different tastes and the same thing seems to happens in varying degrees to many of the folks who responded to that thread. So now that I'm sitting in Southern California, baking in the 100 degree heat with nary a raindrop in sight, what bands am I craving?
Well, that's the weird thing. When someone says a "summer band" I don't think about The Beach Boys necessarily. Here are the five bands whose albums jumped to prominence on my iPod rotation once the weather got hot. I'd love to hear if this effect happens to you as well and what your favorite "summer bands" are.
 1. Meat Puppets
Without a doubt, this is the one band that I ALWAYS end up listening to all summer long. I've never been able to pinpoint whym yet to me, nothing screams "beach", "pool party" or "tripping at the outdoor show" like Up On The Sun, Meat Puppets II or Monsters. That's weird when you think about it because I've never been to a pool party at anyone's house where any Meat Puppets song other than "Backwater" ever played. I don't know if it's the guitar tones, the vocals or the songs themselves that do it for me but when the weather turns warm, you can guarantee I'll have one of these albums in the daily rotation.
 2. Van Halen
Now, let's face it, if ever there were a rock and roll frontman who was the epitome of summertime fun it was David Lee Roth, but even without seeing his leering mug, "All In A Simple Rhyme", "Beautiful Girls" and "Feel Your Love Tonight" are quintessential summer tunes. The thing about Van Halen (especially DLR-era Van Halen) is that you get those great sunny background harmonies by Michael Anthony. If you ever doubted that, just listen to the reunion track "Me Wise Magic" from their greatest hits and when the chorus hits, see if the whole song doesn't brighten up. As for my VH listening tastes, I end up spinning Van Halen, Women and Children First and especially Diver Down ("Little Guitars" rulez!)repeatedly.
 3. Cibbo Matto
See, you thought it was going to be a big sausage party on this list didn't you? No way, man! Cibbo Matto was first introduced to me on a snowboarding trip but that particular day was sunny and bright. Subsequently, I tend to turn to them sometime around May. While "Know Your Chicken" is a mainstay on my daughter's iPod playlist, "Sci-Fi Wasabi", "Blue Train" and "White Pepper Ice Cream" don't come out until the warm weather hits. Also, if you can find it, check out their cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun". I got it years ago from Napster but I'm sure it's out there somewhere. Lots of fun and very different from the original.
4. The Go-Gos
"Our Lips Are Sealed", "We Got The Beat", "Head Over Heels", "Turn To You", "Our Town", "Get Up and Go", "Vacation", "Unforgiven", "Lust to Love", "This Town", "The Whole World Lost Its Head", "Yes or No", "Can't Stop The World"... Really nothing more needs to be said.
 5. The Cars
To me, with the exception of Door to Door, this band's entire catalogue sounds summery. Maybe it was the classic rock stations I grew up on but when you play "Bye Bye Love", "Let The Good Time Roll" or "Dangerous Type" I will immediately think of surfing in Cocoa Beach, Florida. However it's not just the upbeat pop or rock tunes that I identify with summer. Even songs like "Candy-O", "You Wear Those Eyes" and "I'm Not The One" remind me of hot evenings hanging out in parking lots trying to find something to break up the boredom of a teenage summer in a small town.
So there are the five bands who I think of when summer rolls around. Nothing really shocking on that list, I'll admit, but it's the phenomenon I'm more interested in. What, if any, bands do you find yourself listening to in the summer that you don't the rest of the year?
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