Let’s Shortlist The Song Of The Summer 2013

Let’s Shortlist The Song Of The Summer 2013

When we did this poll last year, we carefully chose slightly different language, asking you guys not to vote for the “Song Of The Summer,” but the “Indie Song Of The Summer.” Is there a difference? Hell if I know, man. I’m not even sure if “indie” is a real thing anymore — and if it is a thing, I have no idea how to define it. So this year, we’ve dropped the “Indie” qualifier entirely, and we’re making eligible anything that you guys are listening to. So it could be “Black Skinhead” or “Get Lucky” … or Vampire Weekend’s “Diane Young” or Disclosure’s “When A Fire Starts To Burn” … or, hell, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” if you want. Hey, you could even vote for Queens Of The Stone Age’s cover of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” It’s wide open over here.

Last year, your “Indie Song Of The Summer” was Japandroids’ “The House That Heaven Built,” which walked away with more than twice as many votes as its closest runner-up (“Heaven,” by the Walkmen). And honestly, I think that track would have won no matter what we called the poll. Would you guys have voted for “Call Me Maybe,” or that Gotye track, if they’d been eligible? I dunno, maybe you would have. So we’ll put it to the test. THIS IS HOW IT WORKS: We start here, today, in the comments section of this very post, where you will name your top candidate(s) for “Song Of The Summer.” Once a few prospective contenders have emerged, we’ll make an official shortlist (next week). And then, we’ll vote on it, and we’ll announce the winner in early July.

As you might expect, I’ll kick things off by nominating Deafheaven’s “Dream House.” Now you go.

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