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Real Estate is right at home with their sound

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January 14, 2012|By James Reed

From left: Real Estates Alex Bleeker, Matt Mondanile, and Martin Courtney.… (Shawn Brackbill )

Some albums are so transparent you can practically hear their back stories. Real Estate’s 2009 self-titled debut was like that: a record so effortless and unassuming, it’s a wonder it was ever released for public consumption.

“Real Estate’’ was eminently listenable. The easy interplay among Matthew Mondanile’s guitar, Alex Bleeker’s bass, and Martin Courtney’s vocals and guitar suggested they were in no hurry. Their chemistry, culled from years playing as friends who grew up together in New Jersey, seeped into the songs. For music that sounded so carefree, it was awfully hard to get it out of your head.

“Half of that album had been recorded with nothing specific in mind,’’ Bleeker says recently ahead of Real Estate’s sold-out show tomorrow night at Brighton Music Hall. “It’s maybe not as cohesive as the second one, where we went into the studio with a certain period of time in mind to make it, but each record reflects where we are at a specific point in time.’’

The acclaim for its debut was immediate and widespread. Soon enough, comparisons to other Jersey bands - usually to the Feelies and Yo La Tengo - got tossed about, and they indeed seem like touchstones. Like those bands, Real Estate relies on the nuances of each player’s talent.

“I think what our band showcases well is the harmony between all the instruments and the voices,’’ Bleeker says. “The guitars, and I guess I would include bass guitar in this, do this really nice thing of weaving in and out of each other while building this implied melody from simplicity and repetition.’’

For better and worse, Real Estate’s first album was part of a wave of beach-inspired groups that included Best Coast, Dum Dum Girls, and Tennis. Real Estate didn’t exactly dispel that notion with songs titled “Let’s Rock the Beach’’ and “Beach Comber.’’

But the band’s music couldn’t have been less suited for frolicking in the sun and sand. On “Days,’’ its new sophomore album released in October, the guitars might be chiming, but the lyrics are rife with longing. Even “It’s Real,’’ the album’s most charging moment, is tempered with a sense of nostalgia. “I carved our names into a tree/ I walked on decomposing leaves/ I skated on a frozen sea/ It’s real as far as I can see,’’ Courtney sings.

“Days’’ marks a subtle but crucial improvement on the band’s blueprint. Consider it a high-definition upgrade. The guitars now gleam and glisten in sharp fidelity. Courtney’s vocals are bright and sit high in the mix. There’s not an ounce of flab on the arrangements. It all suggests Real Estate knows where it’s going - and not just savoring the journey.