by Heather Phares
New Jersey's hazy indie rockers Real Estate feature Titus Andronicus' Martin Courtney, Etienne Duguay (who also records as Predator Vision), Alex Bleeker, and Matthew Mondanile, also of Ducktails. The foursome had played together in bands -- including a Weezer cover band -- during high school, but they didn't become Real Estate until Courtney returned to the Garden State after attending college in Olympia, WA. After forming in summer 2008, the band began playing live that fall and released the Suburban Beverage 7", which introduced Real Estate's brand of surfy, lo-fi pop, early in 2009. A song on the Underwater Peoples Records Showcase and the Fake Blues EP appeared that summer; the band spent the fall touring with Girls before their self-titled debut was released by Woodsist.