Real Estate "Daniel"

My brother.

I like to compare the Pitchfork album rating scale to David Portnoy’s One Bite pizza rating scale. If I see an album or pizza score in the 9s or high 8s, it definitely makes me want to check it out.

In the case of New Jersey band Real Estate, it was the 8.8 review of their 2014 album Atlas that lured me to listen. And I was an instant fan. They had great grooves and melodies, and it was what I like to describe as “easy indie rock.” Just a smooth, laidback listen, and an album I could let ride top to bottom in the whip.

That said, I did have a couple favorites. The first being the single, “Talking Backwards,” which is the song I would play first for anyone who’s never heard Real Estate before. If you fucks with this, I assume you’ll want to hear more.

The third single off the album, “Had To Hear,” which also sets off the LP, is great as well.

Last year, Real Estate put out an album titled Daniel. Of course, being that my name is Daniel, I was like, “Sick title bros!” I also thought it was dope that they had an album release event at Union Pool in Brooklyn where your name had to be Daniel to get in. At the show, they handed out “Daniel” name tags to everyone, and opened their set with a cover of Elton John’s classic, which they ended up officially releasing later in the year.

IP’S PICK OF THE DAY 12/15/25: Real Estate “Daniel”

Before I dip outta here, I want to drop one more Real Estate-related track. Lead singer Martin Courtney put out a pair of solo albums over the years, the first of which I’ve listened to, and the second one I’m literally just finding out about right now and will be listening to this week, for sure.

I love this song off his first album, “Vestiges.” Even though he goes in solo, it’s still got that Real Estate feel—straight-up steeped in nostalgia.

Let’s have a great week, everyone. I’ll circle back tomorrow.

Peace!