Album review | Real Estate: “Days”
Real Estate: It’s a buyer’s market
Image courtesy of Domino Records
Sabrina Barekzai
Contributing Writer
From a seemingly bygone time and place of wasted summer hours and sunny-day joy rides comes “Days,” the second album by psychedelic surf-pop quartet Real Estate.
The newest release from the New Jersey four-piece drops next Tuesday, Oct. 18, and is sure to garner them an even bigger legion of fans.
The 10-track album is comprised of lush melodies and wistful lyrics, woven together by bassist/vocalist Alex Bleeker, guitarist/vocalists Martin Courtney and Matthew Mondanile and keyboardist/guitarist Jonah Mauer.
Having toured with Pitchfork darlings Deerhunter, Girls and Kurt Vile previously, Real Estate received a small following after releasing their 2009 self-titled debut album.
“Days,” released at the time of year where everything everywhere is pumpkin-flavored, is well-poised. Being at times melancholic and forlorn, the lyrics in “Days” are meshed with such bright melodies, it seems hard to decipher at first listen.
“Our careless lifestyle, it was not so unwise,” sings Courtney on “Green Aisles.” The songs on “Days” are shimmering gems that hearken back to the good ol’ days, particularly in “Wonder Years.”
What “Days” exemplifies is Real Estate’s mastery of surf rock into a dynamic and refreshing sound: They sound like the Beach Boys, but at the same time, they don’t sound like the Beach Boys.
Call it romanticizing wasted youth or a reckless ode to doing nothing, but “Days” remains a beautiful sun-soaked breakthrough for Real Estate and is sure to be one of the best albums of the year.
