Like the weekend of unseasonable heat during which Real Estate’s sophomore effort landed on Bowlegs’ desk, Days prolongs summer’s imprint on the consciousness for longer than it should – and it does so with some style.
The New Jerseyans’ sound ensures that they are synonymously linked with the summer season. Not so much sun-soaked as completely submerged in rays of heat, it’s a noise built on a foundation of relaxed, delayed, reverbing guitars. But while the music of Days suggests that it’s the sort of breezy, carefree summer album that should only be listened to within a ten-mile radius of the beach, Martin Courtney’s vocals tell a different tale.
The title and opening jangles of Easy imply utmost happiness, but the lyrics immediately introduce the notions of wistful reminiscence and vanishing dreams – and herein lies this superb album’s complexity.
Wonder Years, which sees a shift in vocal responsibility, provides a continuation of the same theme. The beautifully simplistic lyrics of “I’m not yours, and you’re not mine/I’m not Okay, but I guess I’m doing fine” are perhaps the most poignant on the entire album. Green Aisles is an ode to wasted and aimless endeavours – while the foreboding riff of Municipality is matched by rhymes that tell of disappointment realised.
Lead single It’s Real goes someway to balancing the mood with its incredibly catchy chorus and lyrical affirmation of positivity, while the summery instrumental masterpiece Kinder Blumen is so happily laidback that it almost plays backwards.
In any other case, it might have been a disappointment that the album’s standout is nothing new, having been released as a single in late 2010 – but when listeners realise that the track in question is the truly perfect Out Of Tune, all is instantly forgiven.
Days is a hugely enjoyable record from Real Estate that confirms the band’s patient progression from their accomplished eponymous debut – and cements them as frontrunners in the over-crowded surf-pop genre. In fact, Bowlegs has a feeling it might still be listening to Days when next summer rolls around…
-Alex King-
