Grade: 90% (A-)
Don't just Google "real estate" because nothing regarding the New Jersey indie rock band will come up. Instead, you'll find, at least for myself, an assortment of depressing Buffalo, New York homes up for sale. It's not so much the homes that are depressing, it's the choices of pictures put up to showcase the homes. Each of them seem gray and gloomy.
If Real Estate, the band that is, were using their music to sell their home to you, that is exactly how they would portray their house: gray and gloomy. Their follow-up to 2009's self-titled debut is just about as mellow and dreary as the Jersey shoreline in mid-February. These songs speak of a childhood in this environment. This "careless lifestyle," as Martin Courtney sings on "Green Aisles," is perfectly sketched by placid and groovy basslines backed by endless guitar arrangements.
But there is still a glimmer of hope. While some of these tracks bring back feelings of sadness and remorse, some also bring out ambition. "It's Real" is a quick, jangle-pop guitar based song that rises and falls through verses and choruses about communicating your emotions and seeing your potential. These songs are built for the late fall and early winter; when the sky is dark and no snow lays on the ground as you sit near the fire and reminisce on the days of summer and look forward to the winter landscape that is so unbearably close.
They also seem to stretch on forever and make the horizon seem unattainable on that long road trip. The instrumental "Kinder Blumen" is guided by guitars and percussion but includes background effects and noises that play tricks on your ears and mind. "Green Aisles" circles around you with it's flawless guitar work, threatening to strike on your sorrow at any moment like a flock of buzzards but instead taunts you for five minutes. There is an eerie 60's nook combined with the warm dejection of the 90's on "Out Of Tune."
The band seems to enjoy their emotional release on the record so much that they almost never let it end. The final song, "All The Same," stretches almost seven and a half minutes and could end at any moment as the band extends the phenomenal jam into the end of the day. It chugs along with an upbeat attitude, as if they are done with the despair of yesterday and are looking forward to the promise of tomorrow. It bundles these ideas and jostles them into your head, leaving you ready for whatever the near future brings you. This song is surely a concert staple.
Just because they are downcast, that doesn't mean these songs are depressing to listen to. They find a way for you to put things into perspective on bad days, and appreciate the good ones. While Courtney reflects on his childhood on Days, he is allowing you to reflect yourself, and maybe take a second look this time, remembering things differently. The title itself doesn't refer to specific moment's in his life, but simply refers to the "days" that once were for everyone and you can potentially find out a lot about yourself by giving these memories the second chance that they never had.
No comments:
Post a Comment