Real Estate (band)

Real Estate
Left to right: Alex Bleeker, Matt Mondanile, Martin Courtney, in 2011
Background information
Origin	Ridgewood, New Jersey, United States
Genres	Indie rock, dream pop, jangle pop, neo-psychedelia, surf rock
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Mexican Summer, Woodsist, Underwater Peoples, Half Machine, Domino
Associated acts	Ducktails, Alex Bleeker and the Freaks, Vin and the Vin Tones
Website	Official website
Members	Martin Courtney Matt Mondanile, Alex Bleeker Jackson Pollis Matt Kallman
Past members	Etienne Pierre Duguay Jonah Maurer

Real Estate is an American rock band from Ridgewood, New Jersey, United States, formed in 2009. The band is currently based in Brooklyn, New York,^[1][2] and consists of Martin Courtney, IV (vocals, guitar), Alex Bleeker (bass, vocals), Matt Mondanile (guitar), Jackson Pollis (drums) and Matt Kallman (keyboards).

Biography

Courtney, Mondanile and Bleeker were childhood friends in Ridgewood, New Jersey where they attended Ridgewood High School together. After graduating from Ridgewood High School, they went their separate ways to study in college. Courtney attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, Mondanile attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and Bleeker attended Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont.

In 2008, singer and guitarist Martin Courtney, guitarist Matt Mondanile (Ducktails), bassist Alex Bleeker (of Alex Bleeker and the Freeks), and drummer Etienne Pierre Duguay formed Real Estate in Ridgewood, New Jersey.^[3] In 2011 Jackson Pollis replaced Duguay on drums and Jonah Maurer joined the band on keys and guitar. The band is influenced by The Feelies, as Real Estate said to Still in Rock.^[4]

After issuing singles on the Underwater Peoples and Woodsist labels, the band's 2009 self-titled debut received critical acclaim, including an 8.5 rating and Best New Music tag from Pitchfork Media.^[5] Review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a normalised rating of 79%, indicating "generally favourable reviews".^[6] Tours followed, supporting acts such as Girls, Kurt Vile, Woods, and Deerhunter. In 2010, Real Estate performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago and the Primavera Sound Festival^[7] in Barcelona.

In 2011, Real Estate signed with the Domino Recording Company. The group issued their second record, Days, on October 18, 2011. The album received positive reviews, including a rating of 77/100 on Metacritic^[8] and 8.7 on Pitchfork.^[9] Later that year, The Fader featured Real Estate on the cover of Issue #76.^[10] 2012 saw the band perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California and the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago.

A single "Talking Backwards", was released in early 2014, followed by the band's third album, Atlas.^{[11][1][12][13]} During the album's recording, keyboardist Jonah Maurer was replaced by Matt Kallman.^[14]

Discography

Studio albums

• Real Estate (2009)^[5][15][16]
• Days (2011) #52 US ^[17]
• Atlas (2014) #34 US, #43 UK ^[11][18][19]

EPs

• Reality (2009)^[20]

Singles

• "Fake Blues" b/w "Pool Swimmers" (7″ Woodsist, 2009)
• "Fake Blues" b/w "Green River" (7″ Half Machine, 2009) UK issue^[21]
• "Suburban Beverage" b/w "Black Lake" & "Old Folks" (7″ Underwater Peoples, 2009)
• "Out of Tune" b/w "Reservoir" (7" True Panther Sounds, 2010)
• "It's Real" b/w "Blue Lebaron" (7" Domino, 2011) UK issue^[22]
• "Easy" b/w "Exactly Nothing" (7" Domino, 2012) UK issue^[23]
• "Talking Backwards" b/w "Beneath the Dunes" (7" Domino, 2014)^[24]
• "The Chancellor" b/w "Recreation" (7" Domino, 2014)^[25]
• "Had to Hear" b/w "Paper Dolls" (7" Domino, 2014)^[25]

References

1. "Brooklyn based Music Blog: Album Review : Real Estate - Atlas (Breeze Pop)". Still in Rock. 2004-02-26. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
2. Angel Ceballos. "Ridgewood rocks: A slew of hot indie bands have roots in Bergen town". NJ.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
3. "Band To Watch: Real Estate". Stereogum. 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
4. "Brooklyn based Music Blog: Interview Still in Rock : Real Estate (Breeze Pop)". Still in Rock. 2004-02-26. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
5. "Real Estate: Real Estate | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. 2009-11-17. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
6. "Metacritic - Real Estate reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
7. "Ola's Kool Kitchen on Radio 23 Real Estate Live Primavera 2010 : DJ Ola : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Archive.org. 2001-03-10. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
8. "Metacritic review of 'Days'". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
9. "Pitchfork review of 'Days'". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
10. "76". The Fader. 2011-10-10. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
11. "Real Estate". Talkingbackwards.realestatetheband.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
12. "Real Estate - Talking Backwards (Official Video)". YouTube. 2014-01-12. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
13. "iTunes - Music - Atlas by Real Estate". Itunes.apple.com. 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
14. "Real Estate announce new album 'Atlas,' listen to 'Talking Backwards'". Dominorecordco.us. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
15. Archived October 6, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
16. "Real Estate: "Black Lake" | Tracks". Pitchfork. 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
17. "Domino | Albums | Days". Dominorecordco.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
18. "Real Estate - From The Studio Take 2". YouTube. 2013-11-20. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
19. "Real Estate - From The Studio Take 1". YouTube. 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
20. "Real Estate Prep New EP | News". Pitchfork. 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
21. "Real Estate: "Green River" | Tracks". Pitchfork. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
22. "Domino | Singles | It's Real". Dominorecordco.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
23. "Real Estate - Exactly Nothing :: Indie Shuffle Music Blog". Indieshuffle.com. 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
24. "Singles | Talking Backwards". Dominorecordco.us. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
25. "Albums | Atlas". Dominorecordco.us. Retrieved 2014-03-27.

External links

• Half Machine Records
• Underwater Peoples Records