It is not hard to resort to cliché when writing about Brooklyn trio Real Estate-their songs have a sun-dappled familiarity, even at first listen. Tastemakers like Pitchfork have been quick to embrace them, comparing them to the likes of US bands like Pavement; however to these old ears they owe a lot more to the Sarah/Cherry Red revival, alongside The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Yuck and their own friends Vivian Girls.
Sophomore album Days, which dropped late last year on Domino Records in the UK, cemented their reputation for dreamy slacker tunes; live they don’t deviate from that crisp sound--sticking rigidly to a punchy pop template, underpinned by the psych effects of twin guitars and bendy basslines.
What sets them slightly apart from their peers is Matthew Mondinale’s liquid guitar lines, which evoke no less an overlooked but brilliant musician as Maurice Deebank from perennial 80s underachievers Felt.
Easy and All The Same are melodic and bittersweet with Martin Courtney’s sweet, slightly keening voice relaying simple suburban vignettes- very pretty, but the problem is that they are too polite, too willing to sit inside of a bubble of their own creation.
Courtney has spoken in recent interviews of having a “non-image’ which is fair enough, but the lack of charisma in their live performance becomes frustrating, to the point of distraction.
More guts and a wider sonic spectrum next time please, boys- theremins, kazoos, anything…
RSS