Minneapolis’s Real Numbers come from a city with a vast and storied history of indie-rock excellence, none of which they’ve chosen to absorb. In a world colonized by disciples of the Replacements’s sad-boy swagger, the quartet instead look further afield on their debut full-length, the excellent Wordless Wonder, which we’re thrilled to be premiering in full today. From the opening pings of “Frank Infatuation,” the group barrel through a set of clean, bright, and altogether polite punk songs that sound more Glaswegian than they do midwestern.
Still, they’re not afraid to engage in a punch out. “Just So Far Away” finds them pogoing to kind of western bop, while “New Boy” hits you with two chords, a turnaround chorus, and a love letter to the new kid in town. They take a rough detour through The Smiths’s territory on “Public Domain,” but they’re at their best when they’re at their most tucked in and reserved, chiming away as they do on “Sister’s Serving Tray.”
Wordless Wonder is out October 14 on Slumberland, but you can stream the entire thing below.
