On October 18th 2011, New Jersey’s Real Estate released Days, their second album and first for Domino. A coming of age moment for childhood friends Martin Courtney (Guitar and Vocals), Matt Mondanile (Guitar) and Alex Bleeker (Bass), Days was recorded over the course of five patient months in a remote New Paltz, NY barn-cum-studio with the help of Kevin McMahon (Titus Andronicus, The Walkmen).
A gorgeous suite of guitar-pop songs, Days is a testament to the fact that the sonic formula Real Estate developed and shared with their debut album (Real Estate, Woodsist 2009) heralded the arrival of a new, genuine and enduring group of voices in American independent music. Days sees the band tighten and refine their brand of timeless, melodic and genuine music- consolidating the breezy sketches of their earlier work into considered, graceful pop songs.
In the summer of 2008, high school friends Martin, Matt and Alex graduated from their respective colleges and returned to Ridgewood – the New Jersey suburb in which they had all grown up, first learned to play music and shared countless hours of stoned, aimless drives through together. Finding themselves living back with their families, revisiting old haunts and re-navigating the beautiful beaches and forests they had grown up with, they were equally inspired and confused by the powerful memories such places held. This sense of disorientation led to a natural creative spark that inevitably pulled them back to each other. As Martin himself puts it, “it wasn’t even something worth talking about...it was always obvious we were going to play together again.” The resultant eponymous debut album, (Woodsist, 2009) wove together their relived youthful summers and charmed thousands with its warm, heartfelt songs born of a truly natural, organic understanding and friendship.
The band spent the two years since the release of their debut touring around the world, working out the album's songs live, improvising their structures and allowing them to breathe enough to reach their most natural and refined end. Days, months and eventually years went by, seasons changed, and with that change Real Estate came of age. While Real Estate devoted itself to the golden haze of summer, Days, is a distinctly more evergreen and autumnal suite of songs.
The songs are built around deceptively simple, cyclical riffs; caressed and performed with a rhythm and restraint that is atypical for a band Real Estate's age. The instruments swim together, anchored down by Bleeker's firm Lesh-esque bass, ebbing and flowing, occasionally enriched with flourishes of country piano, soft synths and slide guitar. Several songs, like the album's rousing first single "It's Real" were written by Courtney in the way he wrote some of his first songs, laying out their architecture first on a bass rather than a guitar, allowing him to evolve the song's basic melody.
Others, like "Green Aisles" and the Bleeker-fronted "Wonder Years" formed out of extended jams, providing them a fluid structure that only a band of craftsmen could make sound so effortless and guided. Courtney has also matured as a lyricist, adeptly capturing and singing youth's most potent crystalline moments with a surgeon's precision. He wrote most of the songs on Days early in the morning, immediately upon waking up, when the unscripted promise of a new day was still in its purest form. In "Green Aisles" he sings "all those aimless drives through green aisles / our careless lifestyle, it was not so unwise". Such a sentiment is an almost perfect lens through which to view Days, the coming of age album they've made.
Days is greater than the sum of its parts, as defined by its ebullient moments as it is by its moments of restraint. Lyrically and melodically part of what makes Real Estate’s music so vital are the moments where the disarmingly simple is made unexpectedly profound.
The Shilohs
Vancouver's The Shilohs have in short order positioned themselves as a quintessential band's band. These four guys have the songwriting talent, chops and the oddball cool to make any gig memorable. Like the late greats before them a la Big Star, The Replacements, and even Crazy Horse, they have the chameleon-like ability to meld into a scene - Their songs, which continue the cannon of classic west coast rock by weaving together an infinite number of influences, take on a life of their own before an audience as their performances become more about the communal energy transforming typical fan - band dynamics.
Dream Boys
Independent music from the west coast of Scotland has always had a kinship with psychedelic pop music from the west coast of America. Orange Juice loved The Byrds, Teenage Fanclub wanted to be in Buffalo Springfield, the Pastels adored the Electric Prunes. Dream Boys are a modern day trans atlantic love affair realized. Consisting of 3 americans and 1 scotsman, their songs have the spirit of postcard records filtered through the rural haze of the paisley underground. Pure pop with nods to New Zealand's Flying Nun records and an aura of psychedelia akin to the Church. Their songs float around the notion of time and space, love and heartbreak, the highs and lows with a range of emotion and introspection. One can't imagine these songs coming from any other band or from any other time other than now. These songs are psychedelic in the truest sense, a californian sun rises on a Glasgow street, rain fall during an indian summer, Dream Boys' music lies somewhere in between this musical dream, in love with pop music with a sincerity unmatched. For fans of The Church, R.E.M., Rain Parade, The Chills, The Clean, The Byrds, Belle and Sebastian, The La's, Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, etc
The Shilohs
Vancouver's The Shilohs have in short order positioned themselves as a quintessential band's band. These four guys have the songwriting talent, chops and the oddball cool to make any gig memorable. Like the late greats before them a la Big Star, The Replacements, and even Crazy Horse, they have the chameleon-like ability to meld into a scene - Their songs, which continue the cannon of classic west coast rock by weaving together an infinite number of influences, take on a life of their own before an audience as their performances become more about the communal energy transforming typical fan - band dynamics.
Dominant Legs
Dominant Legs are a boy/girl duo from San Francisco who make hazy, wistful pop music that’s also hummable and upbeat. Hannah Hunt’s beautiful but fragile vocals form the backdrop for Ryan Lynch’ s warbly croon (think part David Bowie, part Stuart Murdoch). The guitars jangle and the vocals are washed in reverb, the perfect accompaniment for both regretful longing and positive forward thinking—a confusing juxtaposition, I know. Look for their first EP, Young at Love and Life, that came out late last year on Lefse Records.
show less
A gorgeous suite of guitar-pop songs, Days is a testament to the fact that the sonic formula Real Estate developed and shared with their debut album (Real Estate, Woodsist 2009) heralded the arrival of a new, genuine and enduring group of voices in American independent music. Days sees the band tighten and refine their brand of timeless, melodic and genuine music- consolidating the breezy sketches of their earlier work into considered, graceful pop songs.
In the summer of 2008, high school friends Martin, Matt and Alex graduated from their respective colleges and returned to Ridgewood – the New Jersey suburb in which they had all grown up, first learned to play music and shared countless hours of stoned, aimless drives through together. Finding themselves living back with their families, revisiting old haunts and re-navigating the beautiful beaches and forests they had grown up with, they were equally inspired and confused by the powerful memories such places held. This sense of disorientation led to a natural creative spark that inevitably pulled them back to each other. As Martin himself puts it, “it wasn’t even something worth talking about...it was always obvious we were going to play together again.” The resultant eponymous debut album, (Woodsist, 2009) wove together their relived youthful summers and charmed thousands with its warm, heartfelt songs born of a truly natural, organic understanding and friendship.
The band spent the two years since the release of their debut touring around the world, working out the album's songs live, improvising their structures and allowing them to breathe enough to reach their most natural and refined end. Days, months and eventually years went by, seasons changed, and with that change Real Estate came of age. While Real Estate devoted itself to the golden haze of summer, Days, is a distinctly more evergreen and autumnal suite of songs.
The songs are built around deceptively simple, cyclical riffs; caressed and performed with a rhythm and restraint that is atypical for a band Real Estate's age. The instruments swim together, anchored down by Bleeker's firm Lesh-esque bass, ebbing and flowing, occasionally enriched with flourishes of country piano, soft synths and slide guitar. Several songs, like the album's rousing first single "It's Real" were written by Courtney in the way he wrote some of his first songs, laying out their architecture first on a bass rather than a guitar, allowing him to evolve the song's basic melody.
Others, like "Green Aisles" and the Bleeker-fronted "Wonder Years" formed out of extended jams, providing them a fluid structure that only a band of craftsmen could make sound so effortless and guided. Courtney has also matured as a lyricist, adeptly capturing and singing youth's most potent crystalline moments with a surgeon's precision. He wrote most of the songs on Days early in the morning, immediately upon waking up, when the unscripted promise of a new day was still in its purest form. In "Green Aisles" he sings "all those aimless drives through green aisles / our careless lifestyle, it was not so unwise". Such a sentiment is an almost perfect lens through which to view Days, the coming of age album they've made.
Days is greater than the sum of its parts, as defined by its ebullient moments as it is by its moments of restraint. Lyrically and melodically part of what makes Real Estate’s music so vital are the moments where the disarmingly simple is made unexpectedly profound.
The Shilohs
Vancouver's The Shilohs have in short order positioned themselves as a quintessential band's band. These four guys have the songwriting talent, chops and the oddball cool to make any gig memorable. Like the late greats before them a la Big Star, The Replacements, and even Crazy Horse, they have the chameleon-like ability to meld into a scene - Their songs, which continue the cannon of classic west coast rock by weaving together an infinite number of influences, take on a life of their own before an audience as their performances become more about the communal energy transforming typical fan - band dynamics.
Dream Boys
Independent music from the west coast of Scotland has always had a kinship with psychedelic pop music from the west coast of America. Orange Juice loved The Byrds, Teenage Fanclub wanted to be in Buffalo Springfield, the Pastels adored the Electric Prunes. Dream Boys are a modern day trans atlantic love affair realized. Consisting of 3 americans and 1 scotsman, their songs have the spirit of postcard records filtered through the rural haze of the paisley underground. Pure pop with nods to New Zealand's Flying Nun records and an aura of psychedelia akin to the Church. Their songs float around the notion of time and space, love and heartbreak, the highs and lows with a range of emotion and introspection. One can't imagine these songs coming from any other band or from any other time other than now. These songs are psychedelic in the truest sense, a californian sun rises on a Glasgow street, rain fall during an indian summer, Dream Boys' music lies somewhere in between this musical dream, in love with pop music with a sincerity unmatched. For fans of The Church, R.E.M., Rain Parade, The Chills, The Clean, The Byrds, Belle and Sebastian, The La's, Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, etc
The Shilohs
Vancouver's The Shilohs have in short order positioned themselves as a quintessential band's band. These four guys have the songwriting talent, chops and the oddball cool to make any gig memorable. Like the late greats before them a la Big Star, The Replacements, and even Crazy Horse, they have the chameleon-like ability to meld into a scene - Their songs, which continue the cannon of classic west coast rock by weaving together an infinite number of influences, take on a life of their own before an audience as their performances become more about the communal energy transforming typical fan - band dynamics.
Dominant Legs
Dominant Legs are a boy/girl duo from San Francisco who make hazy, wistful pop music that’s also hummable and upbeat. Hannah Hunt’s beautiful but fragile vocals form the backdrop for Ryan Lynch’ s warbly croon (think part David Bowie, part Stuart Murdoch). The guitars jangle and the vocals are washed in reverb, the perfect accompaniment for both regretful longing and positive forward thinking—a confusing juxtaposition, I know. Look for their first EP, Young at Love and Life, that came out late last year on Lefse Records.
On October 18th 2011, New Jersey’s Real Estate released Days, their second album and first for Domino. A coming of age moment for childhood friends Martin Courtney (Guitar and Vocals), Matt Mondanile (Guitar) and Alex Bleeker (Bass), Days was recorded over the course of five patient months in a remote New Paltz, NY barn-cum-studio with the help of Kevin McMahon (Titus Andronicus, The Walkmen).
A gorgeous suite of guitar-pop songs, Days is a testament to the fact that the sonic formula Real Estate developed and shared with their debut album (Real Estate, Woodsist 2009) heralded the arrival of a new, genuine and enduring group of voices in American independent music. Days sees the band tighten and refine their brand of timeless, melodic and genuine music- consolidating the breezy sketches of their earlier work into considered, graceful pop songs.
In the summer of 2008, high school friends Martin, Matt and Alex graduated from their respective colleges and returned to Ridgewood – the New Jersey suburb in which they had all grown up, first learned to play music and shared countless hours of stoned, aimless drives through together. Finding themselves living back with their families, revisiting old haunts and re-navigating the beautiful beaches and forests they had grown up with, they were equally inspired and confused by the powerful memories such places held. This sense of disorientation led to a natural creative spark that inevitably pulled them back to each other. As Martin himself puts it, “it wasn’t even something worth talking about...it was always obvious we were going to play together again.” The resultant eponymous debut album, (Woodsist, 2009) wove together their relived youthful summers and charmed thousands with its warm, heartfelt songs born of a truly natural, organic understanding and friendship.
The band spent the two years since the release of their debut touring around the world, working out the album's songs live, improvising their structures and allowing them to breathe enough to reach their most natural and refined end. Days, months and eventually years went by, seasons changed, and with that change Real Estate came of age. While Real Estate devoted itself to the golden haze of summer, Days, is a distinctly more evergreen and autumnal suite of songs.
The songs are built around deceptively simple, cyclical riffs; caressed and performed with a rhythm and restraint that is atypical for a band Real Estate's age. The instruments swim together, anchored down by Bleeker's firm Lesh-esque bass, ebbing and flowing, occasionally enriched with flourishes of country piano, soft synths and slide guitar. Several songs, like the album's rousing first single "It's Real" were written by Courtney in the way he wrote some of his first songs, laying out their architecture first on a bass rather than a guitar, allowing him to evolve the song's basic melody.
Others, like "Green Aisles" and the Bleeker-fronted "Wonder Years" formed out of extended jams, providing them a fluid structure that only a band of craftsmen could make sound so effortless and guided. Courtney has also matured as a lyricist, adeptly capturing and singing youth's most potent crystalline moments with a surgeon's precision. He wrote most of the songs on Days early in the morning, immediately upon waking up, when the unscripted promise of a new day was still in its purest form. In "Green Aisles" he sings "all those aimless drives through green aisles / our careless lifestyle, it was not so unwise". Such a sentiment is an almost perfect lens through which to view Days, the coming of age album they've made.
Days is greater than the sum of its parts, as defined by its ebullient moments as it is by its moments of restraint. Lyrically and melodically part of what makes Real Estate’s music so vital are the moments where the disarmingly simple is made unexpectedly profound.
The Shilohs
Vancouver's The Shilohs have in short order positioned themselves as a quintessential band's band. These four guys have the songwriting talent, chops and the oddball cool to make any gig memorable. Like the late greats before them a la Big Star, The Replacements, and even Crazy Horse, they have the chameleon-like ability to meld into a scene - Their songs, which continue the cannon of classic west coast rock by weaving together an infinite number of influences, take on a life of their own before an audience as their performances become more about the communal energy transforming typical fan - band dynamics.
Dream Boys
Independent music from the west coast of Scotland has always had a kinship with psychedelic pop music from the west coast of America. Orange Juice loved The Byrds, Teenage Fanclub wanted to be in Buffalo Springfield, the Pastels adored the Electric Prunes. Dream Boys are a modern day trans atlantic love affair realized. Consisting of 3 americans and 1 scotsman, their songs have the spirit of postcard records filtered through the rural haze of the paisley underground. Pure pop with nods to New Zealand's Flying Nun records and an aura of psychedelia akin to the Church. Their songs float around the notion of time and space, love and heartbreak, the highs and lows with a range of emotion and introspection. One can't imagine these songs coming from any other band or from any other time other than now. These songs are psychedelic in the truest sense, a californian sun rises on a Glasgow street, rain fall during an indian summer, Dream Boys' music lies somewhere in between this musical dream, in love with pop music with a sincerity unmatched. For fans of The Church, R.E.M., Rain Parade, The Chills, The Clean, The Byrds, Belle and Sebastian, The La's, Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, etc
The Shilohs
Vancouver's The Shilohs have in short order positioned themselves as a quintessential band's band. These four guys have the songwriting talent, chops and the oddball cool to make any gig memorable. Like the late greats before them a la Big Star, The Replacements, and even Crazy Horse, they have the chameleon-like ability to meld into a scene - Their songs, which continue the cannon of classic west coast rock by weaving together an infinite number of influences, take on a life of their own before an audience as their performances become more about the communal energy transforming typical fan - band dynamics.
Dominant Legs
Dominant Legs are a boy/girl duo from San Francisco who make hazy, wistful pop music that’s also hummable and upbeat. Hannah Hunt’s beautiful but fragile vocals form the backdrop for Ryan Lynch’ s warbly croon (think part David Bowie, part Stuart Murdoch). The guitars jangle and the vocals are washed in reverb, the perfect accompaniment for both regretful longing and positive forward thinking—a confusing juxtaposition, I know. Look for their first EP, Young at Love and Life, that came out late last year on Lefse Records.
read more
A gorgeous suite of guitar-pop songs, Days is a testament to the fact that the sonic formula Real Estate developed and shared with their debut album (Real Estate, Woodsist 2009) heralded the arrival of a new, genuine and enduring group of voices in American independent music. Days sees the band tighten and refine their brand of timeless, melodic and genuine music- consolidating the breezy sketches of their earlier work into considered, graceful pop songs.
In the summer of 2008, high school friends Martin, Matt and Alex graduated from their respective colleges and returned to Ridgewood – the New Jersey suburb in which they had all grown up, first learned to play music and shared countless hours of stoned, aimless drives through together. Finding themselves living back with their families, revisiting old haunts and re-navigating the beautiful beaches and forests they had grown up with, they were equally inspired and confused by the powerful memories such places held. This sense of disorientation led to a natural creative spark that inevitably pulled them back to each other. As Martin himself puts it, “it wasn’t even something worth talking about...it was always obvious we were going to play together again.” The resultant eponymous debut album, (Woodsist, 2009) wove together their relived youthful summers and charmed thousands with its warm, heartfelt songs born of a truly natural, organic understanding and friendship.
The band spent the two years since the release of their debut touring around the world, working out the album's songs live, improvising their structures and allowing them to breathe enough to reach their most natural and refined end. Days, months and eventually years went by, seasons changed, and with that change Real Estate came of age. While Real Estate devoted itself to the golden haze of summer, Days, is a distinctly more evergreen and autumnal suite of songs.
The songs are built around deceptively simple, cyclical riffs; caressed and performed with a rhythm and restraint that is atypical for a band Real Estate's age. The instruments swim together, anchored down by Bleeker's firm Lesh-esque bass, ebbing and flowing, occasionally enriched with flourishes of country piano, soft synths and slide guitar. Several songs, like the album's rousing first single "It's Real" were written by Courtney in the way he wrote some of his first songs, laying out their architecture first on a bass rather than a guitar, allowing him to evolve the song's basic melody.
Others, like "Green Aisles" and the Bleeker-fronted "Wonder Years" formed out of extended jams, providing them a fluid structure that only a band of craftsmen could make sound so effortless and guided. Courtney has also matured as a lyricist, adeptly capturing and singing youth's most potent crystalline moments with a surgeon's precision. He wrote most of the songs on Days early in the morning, immediately upon waking up, when the unscripted promise of a new day was still in its purest form. In "Green Aisles" he sings "all those aimless drives through green aisles / our careless lifestyle, it was not so unwise". Such a sentiment is an almost perfect lens through which to view Days, the coming of age album they've made.
Days is greater than the sum of its parts, as defined by its ebullient moments as it is by its moments of restraint. Lyrically and melodically part of what makes Real Estate’s music so vital are the moments where the disarmingly simple is made unexpectedly profound.
The Shilohs
Vancouver's The Shilohs have in short order positioned themselves as a quintessential band's band. These four guys have the songwriting talent, chops and the oddball cool to make any gig memorable. Like the late greats before them a la Big Star, The Replacements, and even Crazy Horse, they have the chameleon-like ability to meld into a scene - Their songs, which continue the cannon of classic west coast rock by weaving together an infinite number of influences, take on a life of their own before an audience as their performances become more about the communal energy transforming typical fan - band dynamics.
Dream Boys
Independent music from the west coast of Scotland has always had a kinship with psychedelic pop music from the west coast of America. Orange Juice loved The Byrds, Teenage Fanclub wanted to be in Buffalo Springfield, the Pastels adored the Electric Prunes. Dream Boys are a modern day trans atlantic love affair realized. Consisting of 3 americans and 1 scotsman, their songs have the spirit of postcard records filtered through the rural haze of the paisley underground. Pure pop with nods to New Zealand's Flying Nun records and an aura of psychedelia akin to the Church. Their songs float around the notion of time and space, love and heartbreak, the highs and lows with a range of emotion and introspection. One can't imagine these songs coming from any other band or from any other time other than now. These songs are psychedelic in the truest sense, a californian sun rises on a Glasgow street, rain fall during an indian summer, Dream Boys' music lies somewhere in between this musical dream, in love with pop music with a sincerity unmatched. For fans of The Church, R.E.M., Rain Parade, The Chills, The Clean, The Byrds, Belle and Sebastian, The La's, Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, etc
The Shilohs
Vancouver's The Shilohs have in short order positioned themselves as a quintessential band's band. These four guys have the songwriting talent, chops and the oddball cool to make any gig memorable. Like the late greats before them a la Big Star, The Replacements, and even Crazy Horse, they have the chameleon-like ability to meld into a scene - Their songs, which continue the cannon of classic west coast rock by weaving together an infinite number of influences, take on a life of their own before an audience as their performances become more about the communal energy transforming typical fan - band dynamics.
Dominant Legs
Dominant Legs are a boy/girl duo from San Francisco who make hazy, wistful pop music that’s also hummable and upbeat. Hannah Hunt’s beautiful but fragile vocals form the backdrop for Ryan Lynch’ s warbly croon (think part David Bowie, part Stuart Murdoch). The guitars jangle and the vocals are washed in reverb, the perfect accompaniment for both regretful longing and positive forward thinking—a confusing juxtaposition, I know. Look for their first EP, Young at Love and Life, that came out late last year on Lefse Records.
show less
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