Well I guess that the first testimony to how good Real Estates self-titled debut is should be that after listening to it obsessively last year and then sort of getting away from it, upon one listen this week I absolutely fell right back in love with it. In all frankness I must have listened to Real Estate something like forty times last winter, and for some reason not at all during the summer, the time of year that the album is dedicated to. That winter was a strange one, having spent all of high school listening to 80’s and 90’s post-punk, 70’s folk and 80’s metal I finally started thumbing through music from a decade I was actually alive during. Albums like Bitte Orca by the Dirty Projectors, Veckatimist by Grizzly Bear, Teen Dream by Beach House and of course Real Estate by Real Estate, where what I was listening to during any given study session, and it was just amazing how new all of those artists sounded. So when I sat down to write a track of the moment for Beach Comber, the first song off of Real Estate, it was no wonder that I immediately had to hear the whole album again (several times I might add), and the result is that the album is now a pick of the week.
I never could relate much to surf rock having spent most of my summers in Ocean City, New Jersey. Artists like the Beach Boys, Dick Dale, Best Coast, and Wavves with their California swag always sort of eluded me culturally (although I should add musically I’m a huge fan of most of the previously mentioned acts). That might be why Real Estate has so much appeal to me, it’s an east coast take on that summer sound. The band hails from the previously mention Garden State, and a few songs from their debut go as far as to mention Jersey, they do a great job of capturing the aesthetic of the state and the sort of mood of the people. Having been someone who would spend as much of my summer as I could at the Jersey Shore and then would retire to my suburban neighborhood, it is not too hard to recall times of jumping from pool to pool, and lying on the beach, all of which are themes that permeate Real Estate. But the strange thing is that the nostalgic effect Real Estate has almost works better in the winter, the album has a deceptively reflective side to it which is best highlighted by the last song Snow Days, a track about lamenting the passing summer and only wanting it to return.
And for some reason upon first hearing of Real Estate I was skeptical. I’m not sure what it was, their popularity maybe, no, that doesn’t make sense, it’s not like I had heard them on the radio or had had to float through conversations about them like I and every other person on earth inevitably had to do with hits like Hey Soul Sister. It’s not like I had heard them and thought it was bad or anything, and looking back I don’t think I’ve ever been more wrong about whether or not I would like a band. Its great absolutely great, and to quote its opener Beach Comber “What you find\aint what you had in mind”. First of all their sound differs a bit from most surf rock albums. Whereas acts like Wavves use punky riffs and beats and Surfer Blood relies on a rock and roll aesthetic paired with classic Beach Boys inspired riffs, Real Estate borrow much more heavily from post punk and contemporary indie acts such as Yo La Tengo and even Sebadoh. The production quality of Real Estate is at times lo-fi, but it is excessively hard to notice under their shimmering pop sound. The guitars are light and airy, never ill put together or off-putting; it’s amazing how well all of the instruments and the vocals here blend so well together.
On a side note here, I have always felt that Real Estate is undoubtedly one of the most existential albums ive ever heard, right up there with early Smashing Pumpkins, The Smiths, Suicide, and any other band that likely has a copy of The Stranger on their nightstand. The songs focus on things like hovering between pools and never being satisfied, the temptation of the ocean that never freezes during the dead of winter, and a beach comber who finds himself while stealing a pair of sunglasses from the lost and found at the lifeguard stand. The comparisons continues: suburban dogs that are in love with their chains, the uncontrollable desire to drink sprite, and the track Fake Blues, a fake sad song that according to its lyrics was put on the record so that depressed people could relate to Real Estate’s otherwise happy sound are all really reminiscent of The Myth of Sisyphus, and while that may be enough to turn some people away immediately, remember we are talking about indie pop. And what’s even more amazing about them is that they do it all through that lens of indie pop, often singing about subjects that would be easier for an American teen with an inner tube to relate to than a German philosopher. To have existentialism so devilishly wrapped up in summer time songs is just brilliant. Perhaps Im just over thinking it or looking back its quite possible that I just had a very existential childhood (I never really did like sitting on the beach), but undoubtedly you too can find a reason to listen to Real Estate over and over again too.
No comments:
Post a Comment