Real Estate, “Days” (Domino, 2011)
This is a tricky one for me. I thought their first one was brilliant – raw, bleary, visionary, hypnotic, like the later Velvets disappearing into the woods or the dunes—and eagerly awaited this follow-up. This is more subtle, but less arresting. Unlike the first, the pulse never lets up, but the sound never bursts out, either. It can get under our skin if you let it, however, and it all builds to the truly epic disorientation of overlapping jangle on 10. For a shorter track, check out 2.
1/6/12

Real Estate, “Real Estate” (Woodsist, 2009)
This really grew on me. These guys play fuzzy/drony/Velvetsoid strum-pop, like the Feelies going berserk at a Kegger, or the Strokes, if you marinated them in battery acid. The thing is, they raise up a genuinely ominous, dynamic rhythm and some seriously imposing sheets of unwashed guitar hiss.
Try 1, 2, 10
5/1/11