“To every thing there is a season.” — The Byrds Pete Seeger Ecclesiastes III

For whatever reason, when I get ready to write a blog post for Friday publication, everything feels different. My appetite for meaningful analysis goes out the window, and I start asking myself things like “What was the funnest thing I heard all week?” and “Is ‘funnest’ a word?” and “Can I find a way to incorporate this picture of a giraffe helping his drunk friend Frank get home?”

In many ways, the same thing goes on throughout the summer months, albeit on a much bigger scale.

Days spent lounging on the beach/spent wishing you were lounging at the beach call for something upbeat, something in a major key, something that reminds us that freedom from unwanted obligations is closer than we think — as close as a warm, sunny afternoon or an uplifting melody. David Vandervelde’s Summer Time Hits EP fits snugly into that mold, with 4 hard-charging tunes that satisfy each of the qualifications above. I found a copy the weekend before last at B-Sides Thrift Boutique in Carytown, which is bizarro world in terms of thrift store records. Whereas most thrift store collections are bloated, with tons easy listening, big band and Christmas records for a quarter or a dollar a pop, B-Sides is more choosy. In fact, their limited collection  — just a few bins in the middle of the store — is curated by Worthless Junk Records CEO Bucky Lewis (my favorite side effect being that there’s always a good supply of new Worthless Junk releases).

So you might be saying to yourself, “Hey. I’m not an idiot. It’s not Friday. It’s not even summer. In fact, there’s a freakish storm plowing into the right half of the continental United States right now, and lounging on the beach is the furthest thing from anyone’s mind.” And you’d be right on all those counts. But hear me out: I didn’t have time to finish this post for Friday, and if there was ever a Monday that could use a little Friday-inspired, summery re-engineering, it’s this one. So to all of you who are dealing with dampening storm conditions, might I humbly suggest that, before your power goes out, you brighten up your purview with the tracks below?

Whether you do or you don’t, I hope all you fine people stay dry and safe in the next few days.

David Vandervelde — “Learn How To Hang” [Spotify/iTunes]

David Vandervelde — “Wave Country” [Spotify/iTunes]