Chris and Sarah fill their ears with Real Estate’s Days and find the band’s sophomore release to be tighter, catchier, and decidedly less beachy than their earlier work. They come to this conclusion after eating fish tacos, insulting each other (in the mild-mannered way that AudioVolers do), and then coming to their senses.
Real Estate – “Green Aisles”
From: Chris Mollica
To: Sarah Braunstein
Sarah,
I’ve found it’s real easy to write a review when I love or hate something immediately. The words shoot up from my gut, perspective firmly in place. On those occasions, I sit down to have one of these little “conversations” and can barely reach the keyboard from my high horse. Ask Brandon. With some albums, the moment I put them on they say, “hey, let’s have a good time!” or “don’t I know you really intimately and am about to rip your heart out?” These cases are fun and easy to write. However, there are albums that exist where the first time I listen to them, they hardly even register as music.
I paid no attention to Real Estate’s Days the first time I put it on. I didn’t notice when it ended. Somewhere in there, I ate a fish taco. The taco was homemade and delicious. Then you told me we had to review this album and I was like “crap.” I went back and listened to Real Estate’s self titled debut to see if maybe I could use it to propel me into understanding this new venture. I’d liked the album a lot when it was released back in 2009 and, very happily, I Immediately fell into the whole Estate-vibe again:
It’s the sixties. I’m driving to the beach. Oh, and I’m having a good time. Just so everyone knows, though, we might be talking about some intimate stuff.
Then there’s Days. There’s no doubt in my mind that both albums are made by the same people. It’s still the sixties and the trippy, shoegaze employed on the first album is well in place. This is no longer a trip to the beach, though. We’re headed home and, honestly, who wants to go home after a day at the beach? I’ve been listening to this album for days and only now is it slowly unravelling for me. So far, it’s best on long car rides and late Sundays. I bet it’s great for driving back from the beach, but am I pushing too hard? Sophomore albums are notoriously strange animals. The artist either feels the impulse to take their music in entirely new directions (Bon Iver) or further expand and deepen their established sound (Girls). Or sometimes, they just suck (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). Does this more melancholy album appeal to you, Sarah, or is it a boring slog which, as one person put it, “…is fun to listen to, but I can fall asleep to it right now too?”
“I’m not okay, but I guess I’m doing fine,”
Chris
Real Estate – “Out of Tune”
From: Sarah Braunstein
To: Chris Mollica
Chris,
Unlike you (and a lot of other scoff-prone folks), I just couldn’t get behind Real Estate’s 2009 debut record. To be fair, I probably did not spend adequate time with the album to give it the opportunity to open up and grow on me. I should let you in on the fact that I’m largely opposed to music that can be described as “beachy” although I can’t quite put a finger on the source of my repulsion. Maybe it’s because I live in one of the more frigid climes and our beach time comes around about as often as PJ Harvey tours the US (read: basically never). Music that sounds like it should be played while sipping cerveza from the comforts of a blindingly neon towel just reminds me of what I don’t have. Or perhaps it’s my tissue-white and very burnable complexion (eastern European…I’m coming for you Zola). I enjoy my healthy dose of vitamin D but those “not a cloud in the sky” days also send me scrambling for a tube of SPF 75 that I’ve learned to carry with me at all times.
As such, the release of Days has not been on my radar and personal preference had me leaning toward locking in the self-titled debut from Twerps for this week’s conversation. You see, what I’m trying to do here is demonstrate just how much I really did not care about Real Estate. But then it came down to AudioVole decision time, so I flipped a coin and stuck with gravity’s choice. I figured the allure of a widely anticipated sophomore release would, if nothing else, give us plenty to talk about. I started listening to Days with an admittedly bad attitude, my inner monologue grumbling about how I never drive to the beach so there’s no place for these guys in my life. That state of mind stayed with me for about two full listens of the record on a terrible car stereo. Then I put in my earbuds (some really good Shure ones) and started walking around outside. Voila! The album opened up and here I am, proclaiming my genuine like for Days.
Chris, you mentioned that when you first started listening to the album, you went about your business, cooked up some dinner and didn’t even notice when the music was over. I, too, frequently fall victim to this method of “listening.” A lot of people (namely, the scientist type) claim that multitasking is a myth so who are we to think that we’re super-people who can fully comprehend a brand new record while completing attention-demanding activities like wielding knives and playing with fire? If you were more tuned into Days during your first listen, you’d likely be writing your half of this conversation from a hospital bed. And you would do that for AudioVole, Chris. I know you would.
That being said, Days can certainly be classified as very solid background music; that is, when you put it in the background. Like something gaseous, this album has a remarkable ability to fill and adapt to the space you put it in. I can see Days fitting a summer sensibility, lilting and lazy. But right now, I’m listening to the album in the company of fallen leaves, newly chilly temperatures, and a sun that feels so much weaker than the one I steeled myself against just a couple months ago. Even though you certainly could take Days to the beach, I welcome it as a fall companion, too. Tracks like “Out of Tune” and “Municipality” aren’t just retro (which is kind of an annoying word); they’re rich, complex, tight, and catchy songs by a band that I’m going to label a “late bloomer” although the rest of the world can disagree with me on that.
So, Chris, I recommend you sit down with some really good earbuds and play “It’s Real” a few times on repeat to warm up, then give Days another go. No dinner preparations, no star-gazing on People.com (close that browser tab). Don’t do anything else. Just listen.
Did it work?
“The houses were humming all through the night, And winter was coming but that was all right,”
Sarah
Yourstru.ly & Pitchfork.tv Present REAL ESTATE: “Reservoir #3”
From: Chris Mollica
To: Sarah Braunstein
Sarah,
To think that my music consumption doesn’t involve some rather intense earbuds (and some sweet Philips/O’neil headphones), why I…scoff. Then again, you did provide a link to a story on NPR…
Way to strike a balance.
With the week it usually takes to tackle a conversation, each album I “converse” on is pushed through a rigorous series of listens. Whilst I’m doing something meaningless, while I walk, in the car, out of the car, on top of the car, standing on my head, drunk…you get the idea. As I said, and you seem to agree, Days is a slow-opener, deceptive in it’s autumnal vibe, sliding lovely, perfect pop gems right in your ear without any, and I mean ANY, bombast. Pierre Rissient, a film critic apparently responsible for many movements in cinema, has said about films, “it is not enough to like a film. One must like it for the right reasons.” Roger Ebert simplifies that even more: you should know why you like a thing, not just like it. Particularly, in a case like this, when we want people to read our feelings on an album, I’m disciplined to the point of self-flagellation to answer the why. I know the album has grown on me. I’m freakin’ humming songs that aren’t even my favorites as I ride my bike! But why?
WHY!!!!
Then I realized, you got it. Real Estate’s Days is a gaseous piece of joy, and by “joy” in this instance, I mean melancholy. It fills the void, whatever it may be. It kept me company late last night with the twisting lyrics of “All the Same” as I sipped some whiskey. Currently, it’s a pleasant compliment to waning daylight and rising pizza dough as lines of self scrutiny and earnest declarations pop out ( “Sometimes I feel like I don’t know the deal/ When I tell you how I feel /Believe me when I say it’s real”). And heck, anytime I play it, I can’t ignore how tight those hooks and melodies are. What I love most though is that Days isn’t trying to entice me. The first album did that. It was light and airy enough to say “everyone want in?” Who cares about everyone! This is a better album for it’s elusive nature. Personally, I like your prescription, Doc Braunstein. Take one part Days, two earbuds, no random distractions and enjoy. It will reward you. Every song on here is worth the attention.
So I love it, Sarah. And you were right. Good for you. What does your victory lap look like? Will you be going back to the fields of Real Estate by Real Estate to see if you may like the beach after all? And wait, does this mean you don’t like The Beach Boys? Do I have to Clockwork Orange you?
“That isn’t anything like my reality”
Chris
Real Estate – “It’s Real”
From: Sarah Braunstein
To: Chris Mollica
Well Chris, I’ve spent the last 24 hours considering what the phrase “do I have to clockwork orange you” means. I have many guesses and none of them are pleasant. I’ll cut to the chase: you do not have to get all Kubrick on me. I like The Beach Boys in the same way I like a lot of the bands I grew up hearing on the radio and spinning on my dad’s record player, favorites being The Zombies, The Mamas & the Papas, and The Box Tops. When I said I don’t like beach music, I should’ve specified that it’s the more recent beachy stuff that doesn’t really hold any appeal for me.
But I’m glad we worked through our differences and I agree with you; one of the great things about Days is that it doesn’t care about enticing the listener. There’s a confidence on this album that I find attractive and didn’t sense on the first Real Estate LP. But they’re not all in-your-face about it. There’s no boasting; there’s just impeccably intertwined guitar lines, a solid and dependable-sounding rhythm section, a sprinkling of hooks, and vocals that are compelling but never overshadow the instruments. If this album were a dude in the bar, I might not notice him at first. He’d probably be dressed in something that looks unassuming but is actually quite complex and deliberate (like some really inventive layering for chillier temperatures). He’d be drinking a small-batch Scotch, something that won’t break the bank but is recognized for its quality and depth. He’d make friendly eye contact but probably wouldn’t come over and lay down a character-diminishing pick-up line. I’d want to talk to him.
I’ll stop myself from making “guy in the bar” analogies for each of the tracks on Days. After all, we’re trying to gain readership. But if anyone reading this is still trying to figure out what to love about Days, I’ll go into some of my favorite parts. First, the guitar lines in “It’s Real.” I tried to pick one particular moment in this song but it’s the whole thing, really. The two guitar lines (at least I think there are two of them) sound like they’re chasing each other around a playground. They run up and down steps, twirl and loop, rest for a second and then pick it back up. It’s fun. Then there’s “Out of Tune.” This might be my favorite song on Days. It’s got a nice twang, the vocals make good room for instrumental breaks, the lyrics are simple, well-crafted little things that seem to carry this album’s weight in melancholy (“You play along to songs written for you, but you’re all out of tune”). And I love “Municipality.” It sounds a like a chilled-out version of something that could be on a Beulah album. Martin Courtney croons “how can I feel free when all I want is to be by your side in the municipality?” and a little piano and backup vocals sweeten the deal. I’m smitten.
Chris, we started this conversation in a very different headspace than the one we’ve ended in. It sounds like you’ve found a new soundtrack for those drunken headstands of yours and, well, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I run into the male-human form of Real Estate’s Days in one of my local bars.
“It’s okay, It’s all right, Because the day is just another night”
Sarah
P.S. It’s Brandon’s birthday! Did you wish him a good one?
Get the new Real Estate album Days here:
Domino | Insound Vinyl | Amazon
AudioVole 
Discussion
No comments yet.