Summerween Official Playlist
First a little mood music.
Like anything that needs to get done, it’s always better with a soundtrack. Summerween is no different. I’m very excited to share this year’s official playlist; painstakingly curated by Yours Truly and meant to be listened to from beginning to end, no skips, no shuffle-mode. I approached this playlist like a movie soundtrack. There are instrumentals mixed in with songs with lyrics all laid out to give some balance to the playlist. Just like Rob Gordon of Hi Fidelity would advise-making a mixtape is a very subtle art.
This year I thought it’d be fun to quickly go through each track with some notes as to why I chose it. And look-This is a pretty massive post and your time is precious so in that spirit I’ll cut to the chase: you can listen to the playlist on Spotify here. But, if you want to receive a physical copy of the playlist on compact disc, join my Patreon at any tier level and I’ll mail one to you. This goes for anyone that’s international as well! Get me your address, and I’ll send you all of the Summerween loot. Join my Patreon today!
So lets break this thing down:
Track 1: In the House-In a Heartbeat by John Murphy-composer for 28 Weeks Later. I think originally this song was just the theme of the first movie and since has been renamed “House/Heartbeat.” Anyway, the song builds to this very intense crescendo and I thought it the best way to start off the playlist.
Track 2: The Blue Wrath by I Monster. This song plays over the opening credits of Shawn of the Dead. A great Rom-Zomedy film. I added this song to release some of the tension from the first track and to establish the idea that zombie films shouldn’t take themselves too seriously.
Track 3: Driveway to the Cemetery - Morricone Youth. George A. Romero could not afford to hire a composer to create music for Night of the Living Dead. Instead he used a production company’s backlog of vinyl albums with titles like “Anticipation” and “Suspense.” So, this track probably isn’t the original from the film, but Morricone Youth does a great job re-creating it.
Track 4: Dialogue from The Dead Don’t Die. The Dead Don’t Die is a weird film, even for Jim Jarmusch-its director. But its cast is great and the dialogue is hilarious. I also like when soundtracks insert clips from movies as long as it’s not playing over the music. So I inserted some on this playlist. This clip features Adam Driver and Chloe Sevigny from a scene in the film.
Track 5: We’ll Rise - The Brains. First of all, I associate punk rawk music with zombie films. I don’t even know why, I just do. I’m not sure many zombie movies have punk rawk soundtracks, but in my head they go well together, so this playlist will have a number of them. Some of them I have previously heard of: The Misfits, The Offspring, etc. Some I discovered while compiling this playlist like The Brains. This track also has a sort of rockabilly vibe to it too and that never hurt anyone.
Track 6: L’Alba Dei Morti Viventi - Goblin. Goblin is this Italian rock band Romero used to score his film Dawn of the Dead. The music is really great. I love the vibe of it here (they’ll appear again later in the playlist). There’s also a lot of fun back stories about what Romero did for the American version of the film, but for now I’ll leave you with this synth-prog rock diddy and be on my way.
Track 7: Zombies - The Lillingtons. After the meandering mood setter that the previous track was, I thought it was time to wake everyone back up with this punk number from The Lillingtons. This is another one of those bands I discovered while researching songs for the playlist.
Track 8: The Horror of Our Love - Ludo. This song sounds like a typical pop-ballad, but the lyrics are insanely macabre. Perfect.
Track 9: L’Alba Dei Morti Viventi (Alt Take) - Goblin. I’m breaking one of the main mixtape rules (no repeating artists) by adding this alternative take to track 6, but it sounds like an entirely different song and I just can’t get past the vibes. And besides, rules were made for breaking.
Track 10: Zombie Girl - Misfits. No self respecting mixtape with a zombie theme can happen without at least one Misfits song. Period.
Track 11: Nitro (Youth Energy) - The Offspring. While this song doesn’t actually pertain to zombies, it was hard to pass by when the chorus literally chants “there’s no tomorrow.”
Track 12: Dialogue from The Dead Don’t Die featuring Caleb Landry Jones.
Track 13: Theme from The Walking Dead - Bear McCreary. I almost didn’t include this track because it seems like an obvious choice. But, to exclude the theme song from a television series as well as a best selling comic series that was so extremely popular seemed sacrilegious.
Track 14: Walk Like a Zombie - Horrorpops. More punk rawk/rockabilly vibes. I’m here for it.
Track 15: You’re Dead - Norma Tanega. There’s a few versions of this song out there, Norma Tenga’s is the one I’m more familiar with. I’ve heard this song before but still can’t place where. Anyway, it’s here now and that’s good enough for me.
Track 16: Zombie Crush - Groovie Ghoulies. Some of the lyrics in this song and in some others in this playlist imply that there’s some sort of zombie romance happening. Look, I’m not here to judge. Feelings are feelings.
Track 17: The Dead Just Don’t Wanna Die Today - Squrl. After a few tracks full of bangers, it was important to bring the mood back down a bit and remind everyone that even though the party is hopping, zombies still lurk outside.
Track 18: The Dead Walk - Sputzy Sparacino. Titling this surprisingly upbeat track “The Dead Walk” was definitely a choice. But dang if I didn’t find myself bobbing my head to it when I was listening to potential songs.
Track 19: Zombies Ate My Neighbors - Single File. Never question the weirdos on your street, they might be the very ones that save your life come the apocalypse.
Track 20: Apocalypse - Cigarettes After Sex. Here again I’m trying to reiterate that the end of the world can be sexy too. These are just basic human needs: survival and reproduction.
Track 21: My Body’s a Zombie for You - Dead Man’s Bones. I mean come on! This is straight up romantic! How can you say no to this pick up line?
Track 22: Where is my Mind? - The Pixies. Okay so, this makes the list because A) Zombies are just brainless reanimated corpses whose objective is simple: find flesh, eat flesh. Repeat. So “Where is my mind?” is a shoe in right? But also B) this song plays over the very last few seconds of Fight Club as the main character and Marla Singer watch buildings get reduced to rubble. For me, the end of the world will always have this song playing somewhere in the background.
Track 23: Everything Ends Here - Gunpowderbob. This song heavily samples-and then builds on-the first track on this playlist: John Murphy’s In the House-In a Heartbeat. So I thought it a fitting end to the playlist bringing everything back to the beginning and tying everything up nicely.
For those that are paying attention--> The Spotify Playlist has three extra tracks namely: Goodbye Blue Sky, Goodbye Cruel World by Pink Floyd and a last but not least final track Path 3/ Whose Name Is Written On Water-Pt. 1/ Faded by Max Richter, Grace Davidson, Louisa Fuller, Natalia Bonner, Nick Barr, Max Ruisi, Zara Hudson-Kozdoj. I know right, don’t ask me why there’s so many writer/composers there just is. The point is this: The physical CD can only hold so many songs so these I unfortunately had to cut out of the playlist but they are still on the Spotify version. I want to note that this very last track-a haunting 5 minute long ambient instrumental piece feels like the song that would play over the credits after a film had ended. It has a very solemn mood to it that I felt would be needed at the end of the proper zombie film. Because a zombie movie isn’t an actual zombie movie unless everyone dies right?
Bag and Board is the Substack of comic creator Brandon Hayman. Summerween is his yearly celebration of all things Summer and Spooky. To keep up with Summerween this year, subscribe below and never miss a post!