Real Estate

Real Estate waft in on vibes of hazy summers past. The New Jersey quartet of Martin Courtney IV, Matthew Mondanile III, Etienne Pierre Duguay and Alex Bleeker cut the sleeves short and the pop smooth to shade you from the midday heat. Every song works its way to that part of your consciousness that reveled in the fleeting waves of freedom that eked in once classes broke and the sun lingered a little longer over suburban roofs. And with three quarters of the band holding down Garden State roots it's no surprise that a bit of Jersey indie-pop heritage sneaks its way into their sound, lifting the most sunstreaked moments from The Feelies and Yo La Tengo and filtering them through the kaleidoscope memories of aimless drives through parched neighborhood streets.

Martin Courtney's songwriting has a way of wrapping up the immediacy of youth with the ennui of age for the perfect shade of bittersweet bliss; mind you though, much heavier on the sweet than the bitter. Add to this Mondanile's (Ducktails/Predator Vision) shimmering guitar strains full of equal parts sea foam and beer foam, pepper in the boardwalk clatter of Duguay's drums and Bleeker's staccato low end, and the perfect afternoon is just a lawn chair and boom box away. - Andy French / Raven Sings the Blues