Real Estate – S/T (2009) [Woodist] // Grade: C

In the wake of the year’s lo-fi explosion, fans of melodic indie rock might not be quite ready to cross over into the often raw, subtle territory that is the genre’s common ground. That is, until New Jersey lo-fi surf rock outfit Real Estate appeared to seamlessly transition Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes fans aboard the lo-fi wave.

Real Estate’s debut release takes elements of less approachable acts like Woods and Ducktails (of which guitarist Matthew Mondanile is also a member), and pretties them via of a love of indie rock. As the simple, descriptive track titles suggest (“Pool Swimmers”, “Black Lake”, “Green River”), this is an album of moody floating atmospheric washes of sound. Real Estate draw clear inspiration from indie mainstays Yo La Tengo and space rock veterans Spacemen 3, with sparse vocals and droning instrumentals. The vocal-less compositions, like “Let’s Rock The Beach” bear a strong likeness to Ducktails’ material, minimal, repetitive and fading out into a horizon of nothingness.

While Real Estate’s instrumental compositions are enjoyable, they desperately need an overlay of the right match of unique, dreamy vocals to avoid detour into the land of boring and flat. Unfortunately, vocalist Martin Courtney’s nondescript offerings barely, if ever stand out, and fail to highlight the strengths of Real Estate’s debut. Courtney’s lazy meanderings re-route the band’s gently wafting surf melodies dangerously close to the label of “jam band”

For all the initial buzz that’s surrounded Real Estate and this album, I expected not to like it, but to love it. Instead, I was just bored.