These tunes are straight-up fire.

Ready to Pop has one more burst of energy left as we round the corner for the final stretch of summer. As August nears its end, waning and ebbing with an ever-lowering sun, under-the-radar pop movers are making an 11th hour bid for the coveted ‘Song of the Summer’ distinction. Below, check out our latest obsessions, rated on a (slay) scale of “Super Chill” to “Shook” to “Wig Snatched.”

Ava Max – “Sweet But Psycho”

Lauren Dunn

Let’s be real here: we could name Ava Max’s new single “Sweet But Psycho,” a juicy bit of pop, as the Song of the Summer 2018 and be done with it. Her vocal is daring, and even given the storm of handclaps rumbling around her, there is something so wonderfully addictive about it. Furthermore, it’s got one of the best, biggest and most bodacious hooks of the year. Come @ us.

Slay Scale: Wig Snatched

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Bright Light Bright Light – “Uh Huh!”

Bright Light Bright Light/Facebook

It’s one thing to be greatly influenced by ’80s rainbow synths like a butterfly crawling out of a cocoon. It’s another thing altogether to feel so staunchly ’80s that you transport the listener to a place and time of yesteryear that doesn’t exactly feel real. Bright Light Bright Light’s “Uh Huh!” is as if Wham! and Duran Duran had a lovechild, who went on to hook up with the Eurythmics. It’s riddled in a truly blinding disco ball-framed melody, and if you don’t tap your foot and bob your head in time, you might not be real yourself.

Slay Scale: Shook

Follow Bright Light Bright Light on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Stasney Mav – “Bullet”

Stasney Mav

Heartbreak is inevitable in this life. No matter how we might valiantly tear ourselves away, it still stings. Pop newcomer Stasney Mav wallows in the aftermath, even though those around her tell her otherwise. “All my friends say that I dodged a bullet/But it feels like I straight up took it in the chest,” she sings, flailing around in a production that’s both soft and pounding.

Slay Scale: Super Chill

Follow Stasney Mav on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Jason Scott is a freelance music journalist with bylines in B-Sides & Badlands, Billboard, PopCrush, Ladygunn, Greatist, AXS, Uproxx, Paste and many others. Follow him on Twitter.

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