Ladies and gentlemen please be upstanding for Real Estate, the latest average band to be trumped up beyond reason by the online music behemoth that is Pitchfork.
According to Pitchfork New Jersey band Real Estate’ self-titled debut is different “from the rest of the herd” because of “how evergreen its beauty can be.”
“Despite the summery song titles and the beach balling associations that might follow these guys around, this music transcends the notion of seasons,” the review adds.
Wow, we thought, they sound pretty good. The reality though was a bit of a let down. Sure, Real Estate as a debut has a nice feel to it, offering a laid back take on indie -pop and does a pretty good job of conjuring up images of the band in some beach shack somewhere, gazing at the shore as they churn out their 1960s influenced guitar music.
Unfortunately there is nothing really that stands out on an album of largely forgettable melodies. Worse of all the musicianship is really pretty basic. The style of music cries out for far slicker guitar playing but instead most of the tracks just have plodding strumming as if they’ve only just learnt to play. In places the production and playing actually sounds a little lazy, as if they’d far rather be on the beach.
Let’s have a look at some of the tracks. Instrumental ‘Atlantic City’ starts off full of promise with Pixies style bass and reverb retro guitar, but unlike the Pixies, whose tracks always went somewhere, this just plods along. ‘Beach Comber’ is another plodder. It’s got a great riff, but that’s all it has got going for it as it meanders along. There are some perkier numbers. ‘Fake Blues, is pretty uplifting, so to is the folky ‘Snow Days,’ but similarly they are pretty forgettable.
Many of the tracks on Real Estate have been knocking around as downloads and singles for a while now. A buzz has been duly created and massaged thanks to Pitchfork’s review, but for us the hype is not to be believed. Real Estate are ok, but that’s it and certainly not among the best new music of the year.
5.5/10
by Joe Lepper
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