A recent Guardian article suggests that the song of the summer is…nothing. “Chart analysts say that 2025 has produced the fewest new hit songs in US history,” The Guardian says. Maybe it’s just as well. Who could possibly be in the mood for an upbeat summer jam when, well, you know, everything.
So maybe instead of a feel-good summer song, we deserve a feel-bad summer song. And maybe “Empire Of Rust,” by genre-flouting Milwaukee band Socially Suspect, is that song. “Live and get burned / Invest yourself, get nothing in return,” sings Steven Baird in one of the song’s sunnier verses. “They sold us a lie / It just gets worse no matter how you try.” Yep. Need we say more? ENJOY YOUR SUMMER! ENJOY LATE-STAGE CAPITALISM! THANKS, SOCIALLY SUSPECT! (We really do enjoy the song.)
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