New Music Preview
by Kevin Curtin, Columnist

The Band
Sunny Day Real Estate

The Album
How It Feels To Be Something On

Release Date
September 22

Sunny Day Real Estate’s How It Feels To Be Something On is one of the most highly anticipated rock albums of 1998. After all, the Seattle band was a favorite in the running for “next big thing” status before it broke up in 1995 after the release of their second album, LP2.

Fortunately, the group has reassembled, the only exception is the original bassist, Nate Mendel, who opted to stick with his Foo Fighters gig. How It Feels... is a beautiful, mature album. The band turns down the noise, perhaps realizing that anger and frustration do not need to be delivered loudly to still be effective.

Penetrating guitar chords and machine-like percussion are turned in with the same impassioned emotional energy as the band’s earlier work, while helping to create the song’s shimmering sonic backdrops.

Meanwhile, frontman Jeremy Enigk’s endearing, somewhat strained vocals, unmask raw feeling as he pines for the reclamation of promises lost.

Recommended Tracks
Pillars (first single)
Every Shining Time You Arrive
(But the whole album is incredible)

For Fans Of
Jawbox, Mineral, Texas is the Reason