Image Credit: Chris Walter/WireImage/Getty Lead singer Johnny Moore - who was taking his first lead vocal with the band after the heroin-related death of Rudy Lewis the day before the session - sings slyly about people walking the boardwalk who have no inkling of the illicit teenage action going on below their feet.Ĭombining the wistful essence of alt-country and the gummy-groove fun of hip-hop, Jeff Tweedy came up with the perfect song about rocking out in the landing in the summer, “playing KISS covers, beautiful and stoned.” The nostalgic ache is undeniable to anyone who associates rock music with getting wasted by a lake. Released in June 1964, “Under the Boardwalk” is one of the greatest teenage symphonies ever recorded, a string-bathed evocation of a secret hook-up down by the sea. The Drifters, ‘Under The Boardwalk’ (1964).A steady diet of double whiskeys with no ice doesn’t help either. The song’s relentless energy and shout-along Black Flag-style backing vocals (“Get hammered!”) tap timeless school’s-out mania, but a dark undercurrent makes it stick - “getting older makes it harder to remember,” he sings. “We’re gonna build something this summer,” Craig Finn sings over an all-ages moshpit riff, as he sings about what punk-rock kids in America do to beat the summertime blues - namely, drink toasts to Saint Joe Strummer on top of watertowers.

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The Hold Steady, ‘Constructive Summer’ (2008).

“I am gettin’ so hot, I wanna take my clothes off.” Perfect for those days when the mercury hits the nineties and clothing becomes optional. Over one of the Neptunes’ signature beats, all rubbery head-nod and shoulder-shake, Nelly keeps it simple: “It’s getting hot in here/So take off all your clothes.” Background singer Dani Stevenson keeps her answer to the point. You know you’re in trouble, Richman croons, “When even fourth grade starts looking good (which you hated).” Pretty much every indie rock song about summer builds off this. On this simple, mournful song, the former Modern Lover strums a tribute to the summer moments that haunt you and taunt you as you get older.

Jonathan Richman, ‘That Summer Feeling’ (1983).

Good girls soundtrack sneaks