New Pixies Music Is Here

The idea of a song of the summer is a pretty lovely one. It's the audio version of that scent your high-school bestie wore – something you associate emotionally and intricately with a specific moment in time. And that's exactly why the Pixies' new song "Um Chagga Lagga" should be the song of the summer. Hear me out. I know it's not likely to end up topping the charts and it's not as catchy as a traditional pop S.o.S like the earworm that is Fergie's "M.I.L.F $." But that's exactly why it should be your song of the summer.

Every year, the tune everyone agrees to play at every single BBQ and beach party is something generic as possible. In 2015, Major Lazer, MØ and DJ Snake, "Lean On" made waves precisely because it was totally universal. Man, woman, child, adult, human, animal — who wasn't feeling that infectious beat? Those horoscope-vague lyrics: "What will we do when we get old?/Will we walk down the same road?" It was the same story in 2014 when Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" blew up the charts with its mixture of nonsensical lyrics and addictive melody. As such, these songs don't really function as songs of the summer, because they merge into one amorphous catchy audio-blur. "Fancy" could conjure up any year of the last eight. But no more. This year I demand we celebrate a song that is as deliciously bizarro and space-alien weird as I think a few of you may be and one that will actually stick out in your memory. No more cookie-cutter pop. Feast your ears on this, instead:

I know, I know. Post-Kim Deal Pixies is a hard thing to swallow, even though they replaced Kim with Paz Lenchantin, an endlessly accomplished Argentine-American bassist. However, Kim Deal's absence aside, this is great, right? It's got that tried-and-tested raggedy gallop of an opening that's so profoundly Pixies and as soon as the chorus hits hard like a musical sugar rush, all you can think is: thank goodness it's only taken the Pixies two years this time to release new music.

Having a standard pop song of the summer implies that every year is the same and every person is the same — that we're all into catchy easy listening. And sure, I like catchy easy listening. But a song of the summer? That's got to be something a little less universal and a little more difficult. This year, go ahead and embrace something different. Because you wouldn't buy the same sweater as everyone else or have the same favorite movie as everyone you know, so make sure your song of the summer is as freaky-deaky as I know you are, too.