This playlist knows exactly what it is: a funeral for summer disguised as a workout mix. Fourteen tracks of California reggae-rock, ska-punk, and the entire Sublime family tree—originals, tribute acts, descendants, and pretenders—all arranged to carry you through a run that's really about letting go. The tagline isn't subtle. "So long, Summer." This is closure set to upstrokes and offbeats.
It opens with Sublime's "Garden Grove," the acoustic confession that Brad Nowell recorded when he knew the party was ending. The Elovaters follow with sunburn songs, all regret and SPF-50 hindsight. This is the warm-up that understands it's a goodbye lap. Then comes the Rome question—tracks four through six toggle between Sublime originals and Sublime With Rome, forcing you to run through the authenticity debate in real time. Same chord progressions, different ghost singing them. Your legs don't care. The tempo keeps you honest.
By track seven, Pepper and Rebelution kick the honesty into overdrive. Ska-punk stops apologizing and starts sprinting. Three chords, the truth, and suddenly your cadence locks in. This is where the playlist stops mourning and starts moving. Then arrives the wall breaker: "Optimism in F#" by Bumpin Uglies at track nine, right when your body starts lying to you about whether you can finish. They're third-generation Sublime carriers, proof the genre survives its originators. The song title does double duty—names both the emotional state and the musical architecture. F# major is the bright key, the beach-day key, the everything's-gonna-be-fine key. Choosing optimism as a tonal decision rather than an accident makes it land with weight. At mile six, when you're negotiating with your brain, a song about choosing to stay positive despite the evidence becomes functionally meaningful. The ska upstrokes keep your cadence honest, the reggae groove keeps you from burning out.
DENM follows at track ten, then The Elovaters return for a second wave, proving this sound survives past Nowell, past nostalgia, past all of it. Signal Fire at track twelve reminds you why you started running in the first place. Then the playlist names what you knew all along: Sublime With Rome singing "Goodbyes," Dirty Heads closing with "Sloth's Revenge." Summer's over. The run's almost done. You made it through both.
This isn't background music. It's a narrative arc with a tempo map. Fifty-two minutes of saying goodbye while moving forward. The playlist commits even when you're debating whether to stop. That's the whole point.
