Tracks fit to back fireworks’ sizzle, crack

Friday, your plate is going to be full — of glistening meats of questionable composition.

The Fourth of July is one of the biggest party days of the year, when we celebrate our country’s independence by getting wicked hammered with friends and family and igniting explosives in the name of freedom.

Every gathering needs some killer tunes to soundtrack the good times, though. And seeing as how you’re going to be plenty busy preparing for your festivities, I thought I’d help out by compiling the perfect selection of songs, all from this year, to get your party started right.

Hit up Spotify, make this playlist and brace yourself for as much fun as your modest fitness levels will allow:

■ Jad Fair &Danielson, “Ready Steady”: One of the happiest songs on the happiest album of the year, this ray of indie folk sunshine will put everyone in a good mood. The Budweiser should help, too.

■ Old 97’s, “Let’s Get Drunk and Get It On”: What everyone will be thinking, as voiced by a pack of alt-country hell-raisers who know how to do wrong in all the right ways.

■ Jessica Mayfield, “Standing in the Sun”: This is what you’ll be doing for hours on end, but this cool breeze of a song from the honey-voiced Mayfield will make it all a little more tolerable.

■ Lydia Loveless, “Wine Lips”: If you’re like me — you wish! — you drink wine from the box. No glass, I’m talkin’ some straight nozzle-to-lips action. Be classy, offer that special someone you’ve had your eye on a tug of Franzia and then let this alt-country badass do the talking: “Wine lips, wine lips, I want to kiss you on your wine lips.”

■ Sweet Apple, “Troubled Sleep”: Nothing fancy here, just one of the best rock ’n’ roll songs of the year from this super Sweet supergroup featuring members of Cobra Verde, Dinosaur Jr. and more. This is when you straddle the picnic table and demonstrate your world-renowned air guitar chops while thrusting your pelvis in your mother-in-law’s direction.

■ Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires, “Flags!”: A bit of perspective on the true price of liberty, this country-rock rager is one of the year’s most intense songs — and among the most poignant.

■ Willie Nelson, “Bring It On”: Your anthem for trying to gather enough nerve to try the neighbor lady’s potato salad — why is it purple? “They say there is no gain without pain,” Nelson sings knowingly of life, love and dubious side dishes.

■ Brody Dalle, “Don’t Mess With Me”: This curled-lip kiss-off from ex-Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle is directed at any other man who tries to step to your grill. I’ll flip the damn steaks whenever I want to, Larry.

■ Trap Them, “Habitland”: Every party’s got to end, right? This overdriven metallic meltdown will clear your house faster than the sight of the last beer leaving the cooler.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow on Twitter @JasonBracelin.