Days

Chiming guitars, complex harmonies, and a steady yet unobtrusive backbeat set adrift on a sea of reverb. Ideal for driving or daydreaming, these 10 songs flow together so smoothly they seem to be of a single shimmering piece. The melodies, pure and effortless, are grafted to jangly guitars, and not a note’s out of place here. More polished and pristine than the band’s eponymous 2009 debut, Days picks up on a similar lyrical thread suggesting all isn’t as sunny as it seems. Beneath the production’s glow is a vague sense of disillusionment, with the band seeking escape in simple pleasures such as “aimless drives through green corriedors” or lying on one’s back and staring at trees. Aside from “It’s Real,” probably the catchiest track here, the album isn’t about delivering hooks; it’s about sculpting moments of understated beauty from simple passages as on “Out of Tune,” the instrumental “Kinder Blumen,” and the mesmerizing seven-and-a-half minute closer, “All the Same.” In the end, Days is a perfect companion piece to Real Estate's debut; it finds the band further honing a warm guitar-pop sound of its own.