A little more than a year ago, emo darlings Sunny Day Real Estate had just released their third album, How it Feels to be Something On, after a three-year break-up. Knowing the previous two albums, Diary and LP2, by heart and having heard near-legendary stories of Sunny Day live, I was thrilled to hear that they were playing a show at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. The show was one of the most intense concerts I have been to. The band seemed excited to be playing together, and it showed in every note they played.
By contrast, Sunny Day Real Estate: Live, a recording of a show from this spring just released by Sub Pop, comes off sounding uninspired, lacking that extra something that was so present in the show I saw. This may be the result of a communication problem with Sub Pop, for rumor has it that Sunny Day Real Estate recently changed labels to Time Bomb, and thereby had minimal input into the content of this record.
The good news is that average Sunny Day is far better than most well-known bands at their best. For anyone who has not heard them, Live is a worthwhile introduction to Sunny Day Real Estate's unique, emotional sound. The album contains a varied mix of songs from How It Feels to Be Something On and the two pre-breakup albums, Diary and LP2. Highlights include the roiling "The Blankets Were the Stars" from Diary and the splendid "Every Shining Time You Arrive" from How It Feels To Be Something On. Don't let this one disappoint you-Sunny Day Real Estate is a superb live band. If this recording were of a better show, the album would be great instead of merely average.
-By John Royall
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