Real Estate
Brooklyn, NY
Yo La Tengo, Velvet Underground, Animal Collective
It goes without saying that any band even remotely influenced by the surf rock genre can’t help but conjure up images of sunny trips to the beach, and for the Brooklyn quartet Real Estate such associations fit their bright, water themed songs perfectly. Drenched in reverb and carefree atmospherics, Real Estate may not follow too closely behind many of the old school surf greats, but they’ve definitely got the summer feeling right.
Playing together since high school, New Jersey natives Martin Courtney, Matthew Mondanile,
Etienne Duguay, and Alex Bleeker played in a number of projects before Real Estate fully materialized in the summer of 2008. With a tour alongside fellow lo-fi pop artists Girls later that year in support of their debut 7″ Suburban Beverage, Real Estate gathered momentum culminating in their 2009 self-titled full-length. It was these ten tracks that awarded Real Estate widespread attention, situating the band on countless best of ’09 lists and earning them a place among the top 50 albums of 2009 by Pitchfork Media.
And while seaside pop has been making the headlines recently with the like of Best Coast and Surfer Blood, Real Estate’s songs are set apart with their fluid and dream-like quality at once buoyant and carefree and yet somber enough to tread in dark waters. While jangly leads segue into slide guitar backgrounds, it’s the echoing vocals from singer Martin Courtney that offer a comforting subtly to the quartet’s surf backed dynamics, further pronounced on their five song followup Reality, released in November ’09. With summer now in full swing, what better way to enjoy the long sunny days than with the bright and breezy harmonics of Brooklyn’s Real Estate–with a full catalog of songs sure to tide you over until their highly anticipated next release.
Oh wow, I love this song! The vocals are so soft and soothing.