To celebrate the re-issue of its Diary and Sunny Day Real Estate albums, Sunny Day Real Estate has hit the road to bring its particular brand of Pacific Northwest emo/indie rock/post-hardcore music to our eagerly awaiting ears. The Stranger’s blog has a write up of the first show on the group’s US tour, which took place at Hell’s Kitchen in Tacoma, Washington on Wednesday, and dangles the possibility of a new Sunny Day Real Estate song being in the pipeline. The band had written the title “10 (New Song)” in its setlist, between fan favorites “In Circles” and “Sometimes”; while the song didn’t end up getting played, vocalist Dan Hoerner admitted that it was a new song, but that the band had shied away from playing it that night. Meaning that this new song does indeed exist and could be played at any point during SDRE’s tour. Quite exciting.

Tour dates are as follows:
09.17.09 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
09.18.09 Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom
09.20.09 Salt Lake City, UT @ Murray Theater
09.21.09 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
09.23.09 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
09.24.09 Chicago, IL @ Metro
09.24.09 Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrews Hall
09.27.09 New York, NY @ Terminal 5
09.28.09 Boston, MA @ House of Blues
09.30.09 Washington, DC @ 930 Club
10.01.09 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
10.03.09 Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage Theater
10.05.09 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
10.06.09 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
10.07.09 Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
10.09.09 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
10.10.09 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
10.11.09 Hollywood, CA @ Music Box at the Fonda
10.13.09 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
10.15.09 Spokane, WA @ The Knitting Factory
10.16.09 Seattle, WA @ The Paramount Theater

Online retailer Insound, has announced a collaboration with designer Mike Perry, called “Insound 10 Classic.” A collection of posters, t-shirts, and tote bags, it’s the sequel to Insound 20, which debuted last summer. Insound 20 was a collaboration with designer Jason Munn, who designed merchandise for the creme de la creme of indie rock, including Grizzly Bear, the Hold Steady, and the National, among others.

This time, however, Insound and Perry have chosen to focus on “iconic bands from indie rock’s great history,” including 10 bands that span a 20 year period, and will use the project to “create a visual narrative and revisit great older or defunct bands’ visual identity through new designs.” Many of the bands featured have had no new merchandise on the market for a decade or more. The “narrative” begins in 1977’s punk scene and winds through new wave and 80s “college rock” before arriving at the current world of indie rock. The artists are as follows:

Richard Hell & The Voidoids
The Feelies
Beat Happening
Galaxie 500
The Magnetic Fields
Sunny Day Real Estate
The Olivia Tremor Control
Apples in Stereo
Sleater-Kinney
The Promise Ring

Pre-order Insound 10 merchandise here. Products will be available in September.

This morning, Seattle’s KEXP DJ Marco Collins tweeted “Sunny Day Real Estate @ Bumbershoot? Fact or Fiction?” and millions (ok maybe just thousands) of emo saddies re-tweeted. And the answer is: fact! After a long hiatus, Sunny Day Real Estate are back together and have a 20-date tour lined up starting September 17 (see dates below). Though the band officially broke up in 2001, the original line-up have not been together since 1995. They will be using this opportunity to take care of some unfinished business, says bassist Nate Mendel: “We left behind all these weird and beautiful songs, though, and they’ve stuck with me all this time. I’m really happy that we get a chance to play them together again.” In celebration of this momentous occasion, Sub Pop will be re-releasing the band’s first two albums, Diary and LP2 (aka “The Pink Album”), plus bonus tracks, on September 15.

Sunny Day Real Estate Fall 2009 US Tour
September 17th Vancouver, BC/Commodore Ballroom
September 18th Portland/Crystal Ballroom (Musicfest NW)
September 20th Salt Lake City/Murray Theater
September 21st Denver/Ogden Theater
September 23rd Minneapolis/First Avenue
September 24th Chicago/Metro
September 25th Detroit/St Andrews Hall
September 27th New York/Terminal 5
September 28th Boston/House of Blues
September 30th Washington DC/930 Club
October 1st Philadelphia/Trocadero
October 3rd Atlanta/CW Center Stage
October 5th Dallas/Granada Theater
October 6th Houston/Warehouse Live
October 7th Austin/La Zona Rosa
October 9th Tempe/Marquee Theatre
October 10th Anaheim/House of Blues
October 11th Los Angeles/Henry Fonda Theater
October 13th San Francisco/Fillmore
October 15th Spokane/Knitting Factory
October 16th Seattle/Paramount Theatre

Haven’t we been down this road before? Seems like every time Jeremy Enigk puts out a new record, the rumors start flying about a Sunny Day reunion. So with his new record — OK Bear — out this week (and lead single — “Life’s Too Short” — which we posted last week), it’s time to start the rumors yet again.
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Jeremy Enigk, former frontman of Sunny Day Real Estate and Fire Theft, is continuing life on the solo road. After releasing two well-received solo albums, the singer/songwriter is ready to put out his latest — OK Bear — so we are streaming the first single off of the forthcoming album, “Life’s Too Short”.
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