Finishing up our “live sets” special pledge week series is an LP length recording of Real Estate:
Courtesy www.myspace.com/letsrockthebeach
Real Estate’s ballads sound as if they might have been composed by a piece of littoral driftwood staring off into the sunset. Perhaps a fitting metaphor considering their lyrics often speak tenderly to the wistful displacement of youth not yet reconciled with adulthood. On tracks like “Fake Blues” and “Basement” singer/guitarist Martin Courtney laments his lack of identity, of vector. Even “Beachcomber” reflects this helpless wanderlust, crooning “What you want is just outside your reach / You keep on searching.” Meanwhile, guitarist Matthew Mondanile (of Ducktails fame) provides a dappled twang recalling the laid back country rock of days gone by — think Eddy Duane in his more contemplative moments. The overall picture is something like surf-pop with a jangly, psychedelic mooring — lunar in its empty spaces and yet sun-tawny in its acoustic rind.
One of my favorite recordings in recent memory (which is, admittedly, pretty short), here are nine tracks that implore you to buy some jug wine and get cozy on the rug with some friends.
Oh, and before I forget, thanks to everyone who pledged this week. None of this would be possible without you.