album o' the day

Sunny Day Real Estate
"Diary"
(Sub Pop)

For some reason, in mainstream press, people seem to forget that Seattle had a music scene between the demise of Nirvana in 1994 and the commercial explosion of Modest Mouse in 2004. From the same scene that sired Isaac Brock's band came Built To Spill, The Makers, Murder City Devils, and Sunny Day Real Estate. The latter is often credited to bringing contemporary "emo" to the masses; I would just say that they're a really important Seattle rock band. While they didn't quite have the MTV success of Pearl Jam, Nirvana or even Screaming Trees, their debut "Diary" set the tone for the kind of music that would explode onto the independent music scene in the mid-90's. I might be wrong, but as my memory recalls, I heard Sunny Day before The Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, Mineral and the Promise Ring. But location may have something to do with that as well.

Since the release of "Diary" several members have achieved success in solo projects, joining other bands (Foo Fighters and Dashboard Confessional), and a short lived psuedo-reunion (The Fire Theft); yet nothing has been as groundbreaking as their time together in SDRE.

Still, we shouldn't forget that Jeremy Enigk and gang helped keep Seattle music afloat when the rest of the country was trying to burn their flannel.