Real Estate: Atlas

- New Jersey’s Real Estate could be prejudicially accused of producing some of the world’s most inoffensive jangle pop. Their first two records, 2009's self-titled and 2011’s Days filled to the brim with sparkly guitar lines and optimistic prose, belonging to an endless summer where there's zero conflict and icy poles a-plenty. Their keystone hit It’s Real raised the alarm re: Real Estate. It's a prime example of the kind of music you’d be hard-pressed getting your parents to be offended and distressed by. Unless like my mother, you’ve been raised by cyberpunks. Whether or not Real Estate and their brand of mum friendly pop appeals to you or not you have to give them props for the utter infectiousness of that same track. Unfortunately, this level of earworm is lacking on their 2014 release Atlas, which, still fitted with breathy croons and twinkles of reverberating guitar, is a more cynical body of work from the band. As a result, some, maybe much of it, is utterly forgettable. When the themes are morbidly depressed, such as on The Bend where leading man Martin Courtney sighs “I’m just trying to make some sense of this before I lose another year... / Cause it’s so hard to feel in control here” they often don’t feel convincingly dark enough. Perhaps it’s in the laidback, valium induced execution or the Tom Petty-esque guitar line which in the latter half of the song confusingly explodes into a psych-rock extravaganza. There are flashes of beauty and good writing, but all-in-all, this track is nothing to write home about. The moody sentiments continue on Crime where Courtney admits he doesn’t “wanna die lonely and uptight.” This too plods along, set to a guitar line fit for a road trip. It’s part blues, part coming of age film and, like a lot of these tracks, has me imagining Tom Petty’s smug nod of approval as he lifts his dark aviators from his sun-damaged face. Yeah, despite the similar approach on this track, Courtney’s vocal chops and songwriting prowess are particularly poignant. Perhaps his newly found fatherhood has influenced the more introspective work on Atlas, as he questions the state of his future in a hopeless, defeated tone. Where Real Estate were solely purveyors of sunny jangle, this album borderlines on sad country ballad. With world shaking life transitions for members of the band comes a similarly devestating musical shift. Trying to bridge these stylistic and emotional gaps, sometimes the band produces something tragically affecting, profound, and at other times they just seem profoundly cynical: the yawning cracks threatening to swallow them whole. At this stage, time alone can tell whether Real Estate is still a worthy investment. - Lizzie Irwin.