7 Tracks That Will Make Your Labor Day BBQ Tastefully Lit

Labor Day is summer's last stand—a final excuse to kick it with your squad, gluttonize some gluten, and, of course, not work in the slightest! But for us here at THUMP, our work is luckily to spread good music to lovely people like yourselves, so we're using the holiday as an excuse to share some of our favorite BBQ-friendly tracks. There's some serious heat (see what we did there?) in the embeds below—from the classic deep house of Pepe Bradock, to Craig David, and Yves Tumor's souful falsetto. Throw on some oven mitts, crack a cold one, and get cooking.

Kevin Kendrick - "Freaky Jeans"

Cameo's Kevin Kendrick's psychedelic robo-funk ode to disarming power of the human silhouette was included on a strange vinyl-only compilation of Atlanta music that McDonald's (yes, the fast food juggernaut) put together in the 80s. With that in mind, it's got just about everything you could ask for from a good BBQ—a tight ass, a brand new pair of blue jeans, and America's leading burger-slingers at your back. —Colin Joyce

Earl Jeffers - "Gloria"

Put the one on just as you're loading up the freshly-charred hot dogs and hamburgers onto a serving platter—the classic house groove will work up everyone's appetite, and those magically tinkling, chime-like keys are the closest thing you'll get to throwing a puff of glitter in the air as you present the (grilled) fruits of your labor to your friends. If you time it right, those velvety moans will come in just as everyone starts to ooh and aah. That's when you smile, graciously accept everyone's praise of your impeccable food and track pairing, and say, "can you believe this dude is from Wales?!" —Michelle Lhooq

Pepe Bradock - "Deep Burnt"

"Honey, that side's ready—flip the damn thing!" "No, a little longer," you plead, as that succulent patty slowly starts to bubble droplets of fat upward toward the sky like a geyser of pure American emotion. What better accompaniment to your masterpiece of a burger than—no, not ketchup!—Pepe Bradock's seminal deep house anthem "Deep Burnt"? There has never been a more fitting soundtrack to the sizzling, the sumptuous, the straight up scorching slice of life that's on your grill. Savor it until there's nothing left. Repeat. —David Garber

Mood Hut - "Better"

When you've been barbecuing for hours, the late summer sun's beating down, and you're still dutifully flipping over eggplant slices on a 500 degree charcoal grill—you need something to take you to another place. Mood Hut's always a reliable candidate for teleportation, but their mid-August single's spacey disco breeze is the most likely to take you somewhere cooler, calmer, more relaxed, or, as the title of the track simply puts it, "Better." —Colin Joyce

Craig David and Big Narstie - "When The Bassline Drops"

The secret to any good BBQ is a chilled host. No one's going to have fun if you're flipping out that you've not bought enough of those toothpicks with the tiny flags rather than flipping burgers with a big, fat grin on your face. So do yourself a favor and before the guests arrive, blast UK garage's favorite comeback kid Craig David's sunny belter with Big Narstie, "When The Bassline Drops". David crooning "Bringing you them vibes, ready for the weekend / Don't matter where you are as long as you're here with me," over that classic garage bassline will relax you faster than a xanax. —Anna Codrea-Rado

Blood Orange's new record has gotten me into a bit of a soul kick, and this gem, off Yves Tumor's new album Serpent Music (which arrives on PAN at the end of this month) is as stirring as anything on Freetown Sound. Yves' falsetto is distant and drenched in reverb—it sounds like he's singing to a lover walking down a long tunnel—and those blues-y guitar riffs strumming along to a lackadaisical gait conjure the sweet kind of melancholy that the end of summer brings. —Michelle Lhooq

Black Cock Records - "Juicy Sushi"

Everything you know about the art of a summer BBQs is wrong. Forget burgers. Hot dogs? Nah. Chicken? Never heard of it. Sushi is the answer—juicy sushi, with a side of glorious disco to make it go down easy. Enter Black Cock Records's unattributed but highly sought after 1994 edit—you got it, "Juicy Sushi." Guarded by the likes of Krystal Klear and Floating Points, the belter's "Made In USA" vocal line will keep the patriots in check, while the barrage of horns sneak down into your innards like bumps of high octane wasabi. —David Garber