Album: Real Friends – Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing

Released 22nd July

Banquet Records

6/10

The Pop Punk scene has certainly made somewhat of a revival in the past few years, with bands like The Wonder Years, Handguns, The Story So Far and the U.K’s own Neck Deep dishing out relentless live shows and unforgettable records. Chicago’s pop-punk titans Real Friends are no exception, their previous E.P’s are invaluable to the genre, but their debut full length falls just short of the mark.

By that I do mean just short, Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing is a solid pop-punk record, it’s full of catchy hooks and melodies and is a good record to stick on for a night of pizza consumption. The twelve songer opens with the title track which is a little out of place and unnecessary, we hear frontman Dan Lambton yelling the words of the title in his signature ‘’just got dumped by my girlfriend’’ style.

Luckily, the album picks up at this point and we are treated to the best portion of the record in the first half, including the two lead singles both of which have had music videos released. Track 2 ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’ is Real Friends at their most formulaic, with repetitive themes and lyrics we have heard on previous releases such as Everyone That Dragged You Here , a very safe bet. It works and the band get away with it, but one can’t help but be a little cringed out by some of the overcooked lyrics ‘’I’ll keep sleeping sideways in my empty bed to fill up the lonely space,
I’m just a kid with too much lonely space.’’ The lead single ‘Loose Ends’ has a very similar feel to Everyone That Dragged You Here and the listener is treated to a nod to their previous glory.

The problem with the remainder of the record is that Real Friends seem to have regressed, both lyrically and in terms of their musicianship. The third single ‘Sixteen’ is one of the softer tracks on the album and is an emotional open letter of sorts for bassist Kyle Fasel who writes the lyrics, it’s a nice slow track to interlude an otherwise fast paced album but it lacks the wow factor we have seen in their previous 5 E.P’s.

I don’t want to sell Real Friends too short, they are an incredible live band and are capable of some fantastic feats, but it seems that their finest material has been and gone in the years preceding Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing. It might be a grower and could become an album we grow to love in time, but on first impression we are treated to potent nostalgia and some solid tracks but not much else.Maybe this album is the all same and needs to change.