“Real Estate,” the debut self-titled full-length release from New Jersey’s Real Estate is a hazy, beautiful, free-flowing ode to memories of summers past.

Ripe with nostalgia without ever being overly sentimental, Real Estate is one of the best debut releases of the year and stands as one of the few memorable releases spawned by the unforeseen beach/surf trend in indie rock that took place in 2009.

Real Estate kicks off with “Beach Comber,” one of the album’s best tracks and a great introduction to the band’s sound. Swingin’ snare drum, slinky bass, heavily reverberated guitar plucks and Martin Courtney’s delightful mid-range vocals make “Beach Comber” a rollicking entry point to the record.

Courtney’s plaintive and slightly accusatory lyrics tell a story of selfishness and greed: “Until you find your Rolex in the sand/You won’t be stopping/Until that solid gold is in your hand/You won’t be happy.”

Many of the tracks on Real Estate have been previously released in one form or another, mostly on extremely low-run CD-Rs and 7-inch records. However, the band has chosen to re-record most of them, making very slight changes in performance and production.

The hazy, kaleidoscopic “Pool Swimmers” appears here with added vocals and a slightly brisker tempo.

“Atlantic City” features a far slower tempo and slightly different arrangement from its previous incarnation, yet it still manages to surf and sway in all its blissed-out glory.

Part of Real Estate’s charm is in its production. The band chose a rather lo-fi approach for most of the songs, which complements the band’s nostalgic sound very well. However, Real Estate escapes the rather junky trappings of most records with lo-fi production values.

Tones and frequencies aren’t blown out or abrasive. Rather, the lo-fi production seems to blur the edges of the music ever so slightly, resulting in a sound that’s just as hazy and warm as the memories the album brings to mind.

A wonderfully consistent and surprising album, Real Estate has wide appeal and will likely become a big indie rock hit upon its release later this month. Fans of bigger name indie rock acts like The Shins, Death Cab For Cutie and early Weezer will find plenty to love here.

Though we may not get another chance this year to build a bonfire on the beach or sit in the backyard and count fireflies, at least we have Real Estate to remind of us all the great times we had. If we’re lucky, we might just get an Indian summer.

Real Estate will be released November 17 on Woodsist Records.

5 of 5 stars

E-mail the author: Ben Weissenborn