Domino

The most amazing thing about the band Real Estate is how they are able to find beauty and experimental adventure within the margins of the upper middle class dystopia that is Northern New Jersey. Bergen County, to be exact, perhaps one of the most congested, aggressive and gluttonous commercial areas of the East Coast. But when you look at the cover of their latest—and greatest—album, entitled Atlas, the heart of what once was a abstract mural painted on the side of the old Alexander’s department store that greeted commuters driving along the Route 4/Route 17 interchange is featured prominently (albeit in cubic fractions). But while that iconic piece of suburban art sits in a warehouse now waiting to be re-unveiled to the public, five boys who drove by it countless times throughout their lives while en route to Sam Ash or Tower Records or one of the two malls pay homage to its history and importance to its place in Bergen County culture with ten songs that forego their hazy chillwave roots for a sound you’d expect to see produced by Mitch Easter. Just dig into cuts like “Past Lives,” “April’s Song,” “Primitve” and “Horizon” to get the vibe Real Estate are throwing down with this North Jersey jangle they have happening on Atlas. Good luck trying to get this one out of heavy rotation in your car stereo.