Sunny Day Real Estate
LP2
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Sunny Day Real Estate
LP2
Sub Pop, 1995
RiYL: Jane’s Addiction, Fugazi, Chamberlain, Jawbox |
The band's sound, although more melodic and structurally complex, still wasn't too far removed from the guitar-rock of alternative radio at the time. But it was singer Jeremy Enigk, with his empassioned delivery and high-pitched vocal yelps, who helped SDRE stand out from the pack. Enigk's singing only emphasized SDRE's flair for the dramatic, which shrouded the band in an aura of mystery that only heightened when this album was released. The band (Enigk, guitarist Dan Hoerner, bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith) had already announced its breakup beforehand, Enigk had become a hard-core Christian and both Mendel and Goldsmith had signed on to Dave Grohl's burgeoning Foo Fighters project. There was plenty of speculation that Enigk's newfound religious zeal had dissolved the band, helping to write a disappointing finale for a group that likely hadn't yet hit its artistic peak.
His religious predilections notwithstanding, what Enigk is singing about here shows no obvious shout-outs to the man upstairs. That said, LP2 finds Sunny Day Real Estate increasing its mastery of the soft-to-loud dynamic as well as the ability to pull off seemingly unrelated section-to-section transitions. On "J'Nuh," a dreamy, low-key start gives way to a power-chord and layered vocal exercise that recalls Jane's Addiction. "Theo B" kicks off with a gorgeous, chiming guitar melody bounced forward on the strength of Mendel and Goldsmith's locked-in rhythms, but barrels into a Fugazi-style minor-key breakdown.
Enigk's inflection tends to dictate the feel of each song, transforming both "5/4" and "Red Elephant" from ballad into bombast, imparting a kind of internal restlessness that was an easy rallying cry for younger listeners unimpressed with grunge's picked-over emotional buffet.
Although LP2 only contains nine songs and comes off overly serious as times, there's enough sonic and emotional variety to suggest that SDRE had a lot more promise than only two albums could reveal. Afterward, it was almost as if middle America's young bands took it upon themselves to carry the emo-core torch that SDRE had set ablaze with 1994's Diary. Indeed, distinctive, air guitar-ready rockers like "8" and "Iscarabaid" would provide strong stylistic influence for any number of later bands, from Chamberlain to Promise Ring and Jimmy Eat World.
That band members were cast in completely un-SDRE directions following this record gave further fuel to the notion that SDRE was probably done for good. In a Plastic Ono Band-type of move, Enigk released a solo record titled Return Of The Frog Queen that, by virtue of its orchestral pop leanings, came off as if Sunny Day Real Estate had never played a note. Hoerner stepped away from music entirely, while Mendel and Goldsmith punched the clock as Grohl's lackeys in Foo Fighters.
Goldsmith couldn't handle Grohl's iron-fisted rule, and quit the group. And suddenly Sunny Day Real Estate announced it was reforming, minus Mendel, who opted to remain in the Foo Fighters. In 1998 the group, with bassist Jeff Palmer replacing Mendel, released How It Feels To Be Something On, a truly breathtaking set that shelved some of the chaos from the first two records and opened the band up to a much wider array of influences.
In the shadow of the nearly perfect Something, the flaws of LP2, like its inconsistent energy levels, become a bit more noticeable. Still though, this is an important record, both for its undeniable emotional slam-dunk and the musical legacy that it passed on to other bands.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"