Diary by Sunny Day Real Estate
Sunny Day Real Estate’s 1994 debut release Diary is a cult-classic underground album, and is considered to be one of the first second-wave emo albums. Diary takes many melodic and instrumental influences from grunge acts such as The Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, and takes energetic and lyrical influences from emo acts such as Fugazi and Jawbreaker.
Lyrics- From my understanding, SDRE was an extremely mysterious band in the days of Diary. They refused to take band photos and do interviews (they only permitted one of each), and they also refused to play shows in California. It must have been in their nature to approach every aspect of their career in an interesting way, including the music itself- and especially their lyrics. A lot of the lyrics on Diary evolved from nonsensical sounds Enigk would sing over the demos. Enigk says in an interview with Riot Fest, “I’d sing with syllabic rhythm and melody, and then we’d [Enigk and Hoerner] sit down and put words in places — words that sounded like what I was saying.” This isn’t to say that the final lyrics were nonsensical, because they do follow a coherent thought process and even a story at times. But they are abstract and unique, almost as if they were translated from some ancient language. Sometimes, they even sound like they’re being played backwards- and in all honesty, Enigk’s raw, yet gentle vocals sell that well. Enigk described the lyrics as “haunting poetry,” and I think that’s the most fitting phrase to use here; they sound as if they were written in a dream.
Instrumentation- As I said before, a lot of the melodic and instrumental influences on this album clearly came from the Seattle grunge scene in the nineties. I’m no expert in any way regarding genre definition, but I say Diary was influenced in this way because I can most definitely see the similarities between SDRE and other grunge acts. With that said, I see influences from emo acts of that era and prior as well, more so than the grunge influences at times. They use distorted guitars to make tense and heavy riffs and chord progressions, similar to Nirvana; and they make use of calm, pretty, and simple clean guitar parts- as well as dark and dissonant riffs- similar to The Smashing Pumpkins (Enigk even sounds a little bit like Billy Corgan to me). But they also have a unique energetically melodic style that, while influenced by grunge contemporaries, is far more similar to Rites of Spring or Embrace. Because of this and their introspective and emotional lyrics, SDRE is considered emo. Though of course, SDRE were one of the first to elevate the genre of emo above simply hardcore punk with emotional lyrics, and they are still one of a kind to this day.
To only speak of SDRE in the context of their influence and influencers would be a disservice to the band and their truest legacy- their music. But, it would also be a disservice to not mention that at all, so now that I have, I can focus on the instrumentation itself.
One of my biggest general takeaways from this album is its basslines. Maybe I’m just accustomed to a particular style of bass playing, but it’s difficult to find a bassist that doesn’t simply play root notes in sync with the drums, especially in emo. In the songs that have a simple, guitar-driven rhythm section, the basslines add a large amount of flavor and color. Listen to “In Circles,” “48,” and “Seven,” and pay close attention to the basslines. The drum and guitar parts are impressive too, and a large part of that being so is their general diamond-in-the-rough existence as a band. SDRE were so ahead of their time musically, they almost single-handedly brought around the emo genre’s second wave. Even in the second-wave emo spectrum, SDRE stands out amongst their contemporaries. The band’s legacy isn’t based on how technically brilliant they were, it’s based on how passionate they were about their music, and how their passion led to their brilliant approach to writing music- and ultimately, one of the most influential cult rock albums of the 1990s. Like most of the bands that are worth admiring, Sunny Day Real Estate’s sloppy, energetic, and intensely passionate music is turned to beautifully moving and inspirational art.
Random Thoughts-
- “Pheurton Skeurto” is an extremely interesting and captivating track in every conceivable way. Firstly, the name is well-thought gibberish. “Pheurton Skeurto” is simply a made-up term/name of a place/thing/person with a totally ambiguous meaning. I say “simply,” meaning there is no deeper cultural or historical significance of the term; at least, there’s none I could find. Secondly, every lyric in the song is equally as ambiguous and mysterious as the name, if not more. Those two facts enhance the waltz’s brilliance, and make it a truly amazing experience. Lastly, the music itself is phenomenal. With just a piano, a bass, and vocals, the whole song is a pretty simple piano waltz. The piano melodies and basslines in the song favor each other really well, and together they stress the raised seventh in the song’s scale so beautifully, it’s incredible. I briefly mentioned my admiration for the bassist above, and the music in this track makes me admire him so much more. I also love the way Enigk’s vocals never break from the static calmness and quietude, even during the slow buildups, which subtly enhances the mystery of the song.
- The band’s use of tonality is truly incredible (note: this is all based on my narrow to non-existent understanding of music theory. I’m just writing what I picked up from the music and what I found interesting). For example, “Round” is written in the Ionian mode of C, but the accidental Bb in the verses make it sound almost as if they were written in Mixolydian and changes their entire tonality. The refrain also uses an accidental G# beautifully, and gives it a somewhat unsettling, tense feel. The vocals chanting “round” also contribute to tensity, and so does the drums’ switch to a slower, half-time feel. “Pheurton Skeurto” has some genius tonal stresses as well. And in “48,” the main riff and verse is written in the D Ionian mode, and the chorus transitions to Aeolian mode for a while. Then the main riff is played (in the Ionian mode), which confuses the tonality for a significant amount of time since it’s only two notes directly next to each other, and then it finally resolves itself in the verse.
- When Enigk started jamming with the band, they wrote three songs: “Seven,” “8,” and “9”. “8” and “9” were released on a 7” titled Thief, Steal Me a Peach in 1993, and they were left off of Diary. In 2009, when Diary was remastered and re-released, so were the two tracks featured on Thief, Steal Me a Peach.
The intro vocals on “8” remind me of Mineral’s Chris Simpson, but as the song picks up, the vocals tend to sound more like Eddie Vedder; which is interesting, considering Enigk’s typical style. Hoerner’s vocals are certainly more prominent on this track than any others. The instrumentation alone is extremely impressive- it’s fast and raw, and it displays how strong Sunny Day Real Estate’s grunge roots are. As for “9,” the drumwork is really my only takeaway, as Goldsmith really went all out here. It’s incredibly energetic and intense, and is probably the most technically impressive piece I’ve heard from them by far. The song doesn’t stand out to me as a whole, but the drums really make it worth listening to. Overall, both of these tracks are an amazing addition to the 2009 Remaster.
go to @paragraphsonmusic on instagram to view some other random thoughts on images i spent too long creating on Canva… imagesonmusic?
