With their first two albums, the first entitled diary and the second self-titled, Sunny Day Real Estate defined the burgeoning musical genre of emo, providing angst-ridden teenagers with a new batch of stylized aggression, but with a degree of musical competence unequaled amongst the more mainstream alternative artists. As the band disintegrated during the recording of their second album, they were on the verge of becoming the next Seattle-based band to hit the big time, with several major labels courting them. Now, almost as suddenly as they disappeared, Sunny Day is back with a vengeance. Their latest album, How It Feels to be Something On (the title is a reference to being the Next Big Thing (tm)), takes the band, and indeed, emo as a whole, in a direction previously unexplored.
Musically, the new album is rather mellow in comparison with the band's previous body of work. Vocal explosions punctuated both of the previous albums, as lead singer Jeremy Enigk would often raise his frail voice an entire octave to obtain an emotional climax. In keeping with this theme of emotion through music, the drums and bass would usually build throughout the song, the guitars would be strummed louder and louder, until critical mass was reached, and then the fireworks would begin. At their best both then and now, the band could seemingly switch gears instantaneously, leaving the listener to wonder if someone had changed the CD when he wasn't looking. In contrast with the previous emphasis on punctuated bursts of energy, Sunny Day has begun to concentrate on sustaining a given emotion throughout an entire song, trying to focus more on the path a certain song takes than the climactic destination. As a result the zeniths of the album exist more in the sudden bursts of melody than of shouting. Aside from the opening song, "Pillars", in fact, Enigk rarely seems to strain his voice in the manner so common among emo-oriented vocalists.
Also in contrast to the previous two albums, the music is really quite diverse from song to song. On the one hand, there's the second track, "Roses In Water", and the fourth, "Two Promises", both featuring odd vocal harmonies that are almost, dare I say, Beatle-esque; and on the other hand, there's the haunting "Pillars", which vies with the melodic third track "Every Shining Time You Arrive" for the best song on the disc (one of the few complaints I have with this album is it seems rather top-heavy, with the two best songs coming in the first three tracks). "Every Shining..." is one of the more extraordinary songs I've heard this year, with juicy piano and keyboard melodies scattered throughout the song. Combined with a pop sensibility and Enigk's amazing voice, the track really shines, and shows the band's creativity. The only real disappointment on the disc is "100 million", which is about two minutes too long. Overall, however, How It Feels... is a musical masterpiece, and among the best albums of the year.
Lyrically, the band sticks to themes dealing with personal experience and frustrations. Enigk, who is a Christian, details his frustrations with culture and his hope for his non-Christian friends in "Pillars":
Don't tell me you've gone astray
i talk in circles
everlasting chains that bind my purpose
only i've seen the million things that tell me so
total anxiety, pay for variety
wait for time to turn around your faith
choked on society, laced with cyanide
wait for time to turn around your faith
"Every Shining Time You Arrive", on the other hand, is a poignant glimpse into a friendship with the other gender, and the title track deals with the imminent commercial success that seemed certain for the band before their breakup. Readers with tender eyes, be warned, however: the ninth track is titled "The Shark's Own Private F***" (the song itself contains no obscenities), and deals with the original bassist's decision not to join Sunny Day when they reformed.
This album is easily one of the top five released thus far in 1998. Few bands wear their heart on their sleeve as unpretentiously and as freely as Sunny Day, with amazing music to boot. And, like the band's debut, diary, the artwork is absolutely superb. If you want an intensely personal, musically competent album, then you should definitely consider checking out How It Feels to be Something On.
4.5 tocks
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