When leaves change color and blanket the ground, even the most summer-obsessed must concede that the warm season is over. Thankfully, Real Estate’s forthcoming, self-titled album captures summertime nostalgia in all its glory—and just in time for those imminent winter nights.
Part Beach Boys pop, part lo-fi basement jam, part something else entirely, Real Estate draws upon memories of hazy afternoons and limitless evenings spent in the company of good friends as inspiration for its diverse musical collection. The album functions as a tribute to the season that fosters the greatest sense of freedom and possibility amongst suburban adolescents.
The suburban feel to the album, combined with the beach-y imagery on songs like “Beach Comber,” results in a decidedly Northeast album – indeed, Real Estate hail from a town just 45 minutes from the Jersey Shore (and from the same town that gave us the equally suburban, but far less relaxed, style of Titus Andronicus).
Others tracks on the album, such as “Suburban Beverage” and “Black Lake,” recall the excitement of late-night parties and spontaneous swimming expeditions. The complex instrumentation is layered so that no one piece stands out above the rest, and unpredictable shifts in melody keep the music from becoming another meaningless diary of teenage experience. Meanwhile, the muted vocals hide the band’s at-times awkward lyrics (but fittingly so—they’re bored suburban beach bums!)
“Green River” and “Snow Days” introduce an acoustic sound to Real Estate that wouldn’t feel out of place at a bonfire. The cleaner production that goes along with these more “acoustic” tracks is a little jarring—after growing accustomed to the basement-recording quality—but it works nicely into building the band’s “jammin’ around the beach fire” aura. “Snow Days” seamlessly transitions from summer to winter—a delightful end to the album.
Real Estate is inspired by the band’s own suburban summertimes, but its lazy, unwinding melodies are anything but provincial. In a year of amazing Woodsist releases, Real Estate may have released the label’s best yet.
Voice’s Choices: “Beach Comber,” “Suburban Beverage,” “Snow Days”
—Emily Simpson
