New Jersey’s Real Estate deal well in melancholy. They write songs that would soundtrack the sadness one feels when they sit on a window ledge staring at nothing in particular as the rain lashes down, or perhaps the undoing of a summer’s day when you’ve been unceremoniously dumped by your seasonal sweetheart. The hushed vocals that ache of longing over a loved one (or something, it’s hard to tell if you only passively listen to what’s being said, or rather wheezed, by frontman Martin Courtney throughout) permeate Days, the follow-up to their relatively well-received and self-titled 2009 debut, in a manner that almost distracts entirely from the clever melodies that are prevalent on the record and appear to be the band’s strongest facet.

‘Kinder Blumen’, for instance, proves to be one of the happier moments here, as guitars loop and interweave with crisp drums on this rather astute instrumental. ‘Out Of Tune’ is anything but what the title suggests, with some rather clever and intricate riffs, whilst ‘Wonder Years’ is comfortably contemplative, sounding like a rather late entry to the contest to be the theme song for the late 80s/early 90s television series of the same name.

Whilst there’s some potential with this aspect of their songwriting, the vocals are another story. Case in point: “Monday morning, dirty sidewalks, waiting for me outside that door,” Courtney pines rather pathetically on ‘Three Blocks’. There’s even a “doo, doo, doo” moment on the aforementioned ‘Wonder Years’ that seems to have been tactically inserted in order to ensure that the song bypasses the two-minute-thirty mark that supposedly ‘makes’ a good pop song. It’s a tactic that, as you may have guessed, doesn’t pay off too well. It almost strikes out to match fellow lo-fi’er’s Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino similar vocal techniques that have served her outfit so well, but the end result doesn’t sound any bit as pretty as hers, instead coming across rather clumsily and haphazard. Sorry lads, you’re not the best lyricists.

But just when you think all’s lost, along comes album closer ‘All The Same’, a seven minute indie pop gem. The four-piece put in a real shift on this number with catchy guitars, a sustained build-up, and, for once, more immediate vocals. This track is a reminder that we shouldn’t dismiss Real Estate as just one of the voluminous assortment of American lo-fi bands that have invaded our blogs and our iTunes in recent times, but are a band that are attempting to break free from such broad classifications like the one we just offered in order to make a real name for themselves. Just need to sharpen those vocals, and all could be very well in this particular Estate.

Our Rating
6/10