Real Estate – Days (2011) [Domino] // Grade: A-

When news began to surface a couple of weeks ago stating that Athens GA legends R.E.M. were calling it quits, I was immediately struck with a sharp pang of sadness. While I like most R.E.M. records just fine, I’ve always had a real soft spot for the ultra jangley strumming of guitarist Peter Buck. As I began to mentally expatiate on the split, I couldn’t help but imagine a closet full of Buck’s most prized Creepers gathering dust, and racks upon racks of vintage Rickenbacker 360′s slowly warping out of tune. I reside in a lame la la land where the status of rock and roll bands tends to emotionally trump any real health or personal afflictions I may encounter, so, as you might believe, this break up threw me into a minor funk.

Lucky for me, just as thoughts of R.E.M.’s unemployed guitarist began to plunge me deeper and deeper into the void, I came to the realization that the latest Real Estate LP, entitled Days, was sitting on my hard drive, primed to be listened to. In the last act of a desperate man, I hit the play button on album opener “Easy,” and the clouds started to part. Like some roving gang of laid-back knights in shining armor, the Jersey boys that comprise Real Estate picked up the jingle-jangle torch which was once held by Buck, and subsequently plucked me from certain depression. I quickly forgot that R.E.M. was ever a thing that people cared about, and began to hail the new kings of nerdy guitar music.

While I may have slightly embellished a bit throughout the prior couple of paragraphs, Days really is pretty remarkable in many respects. Scanning from track to track, there isn’t a weak tune to be had. In fact, the entire product serves as a perfect soundtrack to Autumn 2011.  Over the course of this past summer there were a number of moments where I attempted to poach the Days LP off various download sites, blogs, and message boards. In the end, my attempts were to no avail, but I think this may have been all for the best.

Without sounding like too big of a jackass (as if it isn’t already too late for that), this crap acts as wonderful leaves-changin’ music, and may have been wasted during the dawg days of August. The sound on the new record has definitely been given a quick spit-shine here, and this new-found accessibility really plays to Real Estate’s strengths as songwriters.

- Zaius