Long weekends are the perfect time to catch up on things your typical two days off duty don’t allow. With an extra day at your disposal, you could finally bake that epic layer cake you pinned forever ago, finish your new monthly read (way early) or high-tail it to the nearest pool party with your besties. Whatever you end up getting into this holiday weekend, you’ll need a special soundtrack to all that fun in the sun. Just in case your go-to jams are getting a little too much commute-to-desk-to-gym action (guilty), this summer playlist is *exactly* what you need to be blasting this weekend.
Compiled by San Francisco DJs Helen Tseng and Melissa Graeber, the duo better known as Shewolfe and Beatrix Graveguard to listeners of their weekly online radio show, Astral Projection Radio Hour on BFF.fm, this 14-song set is full of dance-worthy tunes, shout-it-out anthems and a handful of the “sonic spells” they’re famous for spinning. So turn it up and press play on your ultimate long-weekend summer playlist!
Shewolfe’s Picks
1. The Chiffons – Mystic Voice: For summer sleepovers and casting spells in the dark.
2. Grace Jones – Pull Up To The Bumper: For sweaty barefoot dance parties in the backyard.
3. Peach Kelli Pop – Nude Beach: For leaving your clothes behind in a cloud of smoke.
4. Bully – Brainfreeze: For sticky-sweet frozen treats and ice-cold glass on your forehead.
5. J.D. McPherson – Wolf Teeth: For howling at the moon with your she-wolfpack.
6. Active Child – Midnight Swim: For sneaking into the haunted hotel pool after hours.
7. Tennis – Bad Girls: For slow-dancing with your girl gang of best friends.
Beatrix Gravesguard’s Picks
8. TheGaylettes – Silent Rivers Run Deep: Pop yourself into an inflatable inner tube and float, float, float down the river.
9. Lower Dens – To Die in L.A.: This song is for driving around L.A. with the top down on a warm summer night, drinking slurpees with your friends.
10. Class Actress – The Limit: One dash of Gloria Estefan, two shakes of 80’s mall pop queen Tiffany. Guaranteed to get any summer rooftop party dancing.
11. Waxahatchee – La Loose: The sound of jumping off a rope swing into a lake, then sunning on the rocks with an ice cold popsicle.
12. Wolf Alice – Giant Peach: Everyone knows that giant, dripping peaches are the official snack of summer. Eat one on the hot sidewalk with Wolf Alice cranked up high on the boom box.
13. Twin River – Secret in a Seance: Hot new summer witch trend: seances.
14. Mazzy Star – Fade Into You: Classic summer make-out-in-the-pool-at-dusk jam. Also, the early ’90s are back, right?
What songs are on your favorite summer playlists? Share your tracklists in the comments below
Shewolfe is BFF.fm’s resident shapeshifter. Her human form is Helen Tseng, a designer and illustrator whose clients include Airbnb, Lucky Peach, Cosmopolitan, Bustle, Momofuku, Benefit Cosmetics, and more. She is a Sagittarius and she tweets at @wolfchirp.
Beatrix is BFF.fm’s resident “Metal Martha Stewart.” She is a writer, mentor of wayward teens, and a Taurus.She lives in San Francisco with her magical cat familiar and tweets at @melissagraeber.
