The phrase “summer jam” is misleading.
One song cannot define a summer; cannot properly function as a soundtrack to a summer because a summer is a living, breathing thing. A summer has moods- ups, downs, and sideways. Like the ocean, summer is different from day to day, from hour to hour- sometimes from minute to minute.
So having just one summer jam?
Not going to cut it.
Two moods of summer are Chill Summer and Good Time Havin’ summer. This is not to say Chill Summer isn’t a good time. It is. But there’s a difference between Chill Summer being a good time and a Good Time Havin’ Summer. Oddly enough, Chill Summer usually follows Good Time Havin’ Summer. But the two are different. The two are just two examples of the various shapes and sizes a summer can take.
With that in mind, here’s a playlist for each of these two summers…
Giddy Up America’s Lil’ Chillin’ in the Summertime Playlist
Suggested activities to do while listening: BBQin’, lounging, sitting at the beach, walking the dog, drinking coffee on the porch/stoop/deck
Tracklist…
“Lake Michigan” Rogue Wave
“The Woodpile” Frightend Rabbit
“Ceilings” Local Natives
“The Day is Coming” My Morning Jacket
“When the Night Comes” Dan Auerbach
“The World at Large” Modest Mouse
“Bedside Manor” Rustic Overtones
“Living in the Moment” Mason Jennings
“All for You” Sister Hazel
“Shot Reverse Shot” Jack Johnson
“Where You Been?” Spencer Albee
“Miss Magnolia” Matt Costa
“Brushy Mountain Conjugal Trailer” Old Crow Medicine Show
“Price to Pay” Blues Traveler
“Half the City” St. Paul & the Broken Bones
“Compliments” Band of Horses
“Was All Talk” Kurt Vile
“Distant Light” Dr. Dog
“Mess is Mine” Vance Joy
“Waltz #2” Elliot Smith
“From Eden” Hozier
Giddy Up America’s Lil’ Good Time Havin’ in the Summertime Playlist
Suggested activities to do while listening: driving to the beach, playing lawn games/beach games, doing some drinkin’ round a fire pit
Tracklist…
“Brave Man’s Death” J Roddy Walston & the Business
“Blackberry” The Black Crowes
“Supersonic” Pearl Jam
“Get ’em” John the Conqueror
“Them Shoes” Patrick Sweany
“Fault Lines” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
“I Got Mine” The Black Keys
“One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces” Ben Folds Five
“Chicago Falcon” The Budos Band
“On the Road” Houndmouth
“So American” Portugal. The Man
“One of Us is Gonna Die Young” The Ark
“Back to the Shack” Weezer
“Fire’s Highway” Japandroids
“Piece of Land” The Mallet Brothers Band
“Timebomb” The Old 97’s
“Graveyard Shift” Uncle Tupelo
“Hacienda Motel” Pickwick
“Pretty Girl from Michigan” the Avett Brothers
Giddy Up America 
jack johnson is quite the summer jam