I was traveling last week, which meant a spate of sporadic posts due to a busy schedule and spotty Interweb access. On the positive side, I spent stretches of time in a rental car, so getting from point A to point B allowed me to get reacquainted with terrestrial radio.

As on previous trips out of town, one song stood out during my days away. This time, honors went to The Naked and Famous‘ “Young Blood,” taken from the New Zealand band’s debut album, Passive Me, Aggressive You, originally released in September 2010. “Young Blood” was iTunes’ free Single of the Week in March 2011, peaked at #9 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in August, and logged lots of TV series time in the months since, so it’s not a new tune by any measure.

But “Young Blood” was still being pumped on Chicago’s newly launched alt-rock radio station, Q87.7, and with good reason. The song is undeniably hooky, an energetic anthem that’s primed for summertime listening.

Maybe like me, you’d forgotten that “Young Blood” was already tucked away in your iTunes library. And since that initial encounter with The Naked and Famous’ single was so long ago, you may have also mistaken it for something new from Passion Pit (albeit a female-fronted version) when “Young Blood” came blasting through the car stereo. The post-song announcement of artist and title set the record straight.

“Young Blood” might not be the freshest of offerings, but take it for a spin and see if you don’t succumb to the irresistible rush that The Naked And Famous’ ride provides. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Purchase The Naked and Famous – “Young Blood” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.