Fourteen years removed, it's hard to imagine the cloud of mystery that surrounded Sunny Day Real Estate following their breakup. Their debut album Diary, a surreal and propulsive work, sounded fresh: raging enough to attract the ears of hardcore and punk fans, but subtle enough to earn an Alternative Press comparison to Steely Dan. Jeremy Enigk’s distinctive vocals moved from subtle beckoning to impassioned screams, and the music contained dynamics to match. But Diary had barely settled when breakup rumors began circulating, partly fueled by Enigk’s embrace of Christianity. Remember, this was a time before the internet became ground zero for music news; rumors spread by chain and appeared in zines. It seemed surreal, but it also made the appearance of a second Sunny Day Real Estate album seem practically miraculous.
In the fall of 1995, I was a freshman in college and had a dedicated internet connection for the first time. I came upon a website that had brief live clips of songs that would appear on LP2, fragments of interviews with Enigk, and news of the band members’ various guest appearances. It had me captivated; these clips sounded nothing like Diary, suggesting a band demolishing the demarcations of their style. So the day LP2 was first released, I purchased a copy, withdrew the CD case from plastic wrap, opened it up, and was promptly baffled: the packaging was so minimal as to be surreal -- song titles, music credits, and a photograph of a fly were all that was inside. Compared to the detailed artwork and lyrics of Diary, this was unexpected. And given the music that I was about to hear, the lack of printed lyrics felt even more significant.
On paper, LP2 may look similar to Diary: both traffic in abundant loud/quiet/loud dynamics, both push Enigk’s voice from calm to anguished, both end on notes of release. But LP2 is ultimately a much more challenging record. Songs end abruptly and structures shift unrelentingly, the familiar yanked away for tempo and stylistic changes that defy expectation. (“J’Nuh” in particular embodies the latter quality.) Most significantly, Enigk’s vocals are almost impenetrable: it isn’t until “5/4,” the album’s fourth song, when the majority of his lyrics can be discerned. And it’s probably no coincidence that, of the songs on LP2, this track most directly addresses his faith.
The album builds haltingly across its nine tracks, and by the time we reach the midway point, it has drained us, exhausted us. The band seems divided between building on the style of Diary and imploding it. When “8” hits, with Enigk crooning something about a “rain song” before the guitars kick in, it’s a necessary catharsis. Enigk’s voice roars, and the guitars roar right back, each element pushing the other to a greater intensity. (It should also be mentioned that “8” appeared on the Batman Forever soundtrack prior to LP2, giving mid-90s emo kids reason to pour over the film for any trace of its appearance.)
The pair of songs that close the original version of LP2 showcase the strength and potential contained in this version of Sunny Day Real Estate. “J’Nuh” opens in serpentine fashion, lurching forward and leaping back, its structure threatening to collapse on itself. Halfway through the song, a clear guitar line emerges atop a steady drumbeat, which is then followed by a dizzying thread of vocals. The rhythm section of Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith is equally precise here. If “8” represents the template that many Sunny Day Real Estate acolytes ran with, these sinewy, mysterious breaks represent an aspect of their sound that few chose to emulate -- something equally cathartic but far more satisfying. And while the slow-build-towards-explosion structure of “Rodeo Jones” might seem similar to “8,” it unexpectedly shifts gears as it approaches its conclusion in a crashing, brutal collapse.
The two songs added to the end of this 2009 reissue, “Spade and Parade” and “Bucket of Chicken,” sound like dry runs for the more expansive (yet ultimately less challenging) style heard on 1998’s How It Feels to Be Something On. Enigk’s vocals are also more moderate in their dynamics. What had been screams are now low rumbles, reflecting the gravitas of a band who’s seen a style they helped establish become a touchstone. These tracks aside, LP2 is still more erratic than Diary and lacks the stylistic expanse of How It Feels, but it may be the group’s most rewarding album -- a fluid demonstration of the permutations of one band’s style.
1. Friday
2. Theo B
3. Red Elephant
4. 5/4
5. Waffle
6. 8
7. Iscarabaid
8. J’Nuh
9. Rodeo Jones
10. Spade and Parade
11. Bucket of Chicken
