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By Elaine Corden
Staff Writer

You might want to file this one under For Fans Only. If the buzz in the ladies room at Richards on Richards is to be believed, Sunny Day Real Estate are, to quote a powder-room detractor, "miserable".

This may be a bit harsh, given that the hard-core fans in the audience clearly seemed to enjoy the show, but in every drunken bathroom review, there is a grain of truth.

With opening act No Knife's rockabilly-punk, the show began with a promising start. However, once the headliners took the stage, the night quickly descended into tedium for those of us not currently claiming membership in Sunny Day's fan club.

The Seattle band opened with a song from their 1998 release, 'How it Feels to Be Something On', and then followed the standard old album, new album, old album format to the end of the show. While older tunes, such as 'Jnuh', and 'Eight' showcased the bands formidable talent in creating sonic soundscapes with their (three) guitars, newer tracks like 'Killed by an Angel' and 'Snibe' demonstrated that Sunny Day aren't particularly interested in moving forward with their sound.

To their credit, the five piece band have their moments. Guitarist Dan Hoerner radiates ecstasy onstage, and when he's allowed to rock out (which is often) he creates some magnificent noise. Backed by solid drums and a newly acquired keyboard player, Sunny Day can, when they want to, dispense with over-emoting and produce genuine melancholy. Unfortunately, these moments are few and far between.

At their best, Sunny Day Real Estate can sound like mid-eighties Rush fused with Janes Addiction in the days leading up to their split. At worst, they're a bit, well, generic. One gets the impression that they're a band who saw their heyday in the early 90s peak of grunge music. If you close your eyes, you can picture Sunny Day on the main stage of Lollapalooza, where their angsty-rock would have delighted the throngs of be-dreadlockedfans waiting for Soundgarden to play.

Unfortunately, opening your eyes(and ears) Wednesday night at Richards on Richards made you realize the Seattle dream is very much over.

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