To say that the release of ‘Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing’ is a significant milestone for Real Friends is a big understatement. Two wildly popular EPs, a succession of high profile support slots, and ever-growing capacity headline tours of their own have got everyone’s attention focused on the Illinois band, finding them on the brink of producing something incredibly special for themselves, their fans, and the scene.
Anyone who has listened to their two previous releases will know that the strongest part of Real Friends is their lyrics. This isn’t lost on the band themselves, bassist Kyle Fasel stating “I think our band has been very lyrically connected with fans… I feel like being straight-up honest with lyrics and just saying what you want to say instead of sounding like an ‘artist’ is what people connect to.”
As expected, Real Friends waste little time in playing to their strengths, soon arriving at ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’ with its straightforward title and lyrical honesty rising above the fairly standard song structure underneath. ‘Cover You Up’ is excellent and provides an instant melodic lift, utilising a quicker pace as the record starts to hit its stride, sprinting into the memorable chorus and its admittance that “I find comfort in weakness because it’s always there for me”.
This pattern of honest lyrics over the top of occasionally standard pop-punk song structures continues, almost unchanged, over the next few songs. Real Friends found their style with their EPs, and this album is largely a continuation of that. However, when Real Friends do attempt to alter their formula, it works fantastically well as the stand-out ‘Sixteen’ proves. The toned down approach and slower pace provides a real breath of fresh air and stops the album becoming stale.
A more upbeat tone comes to the fore for the last two songs ensuring things end on a positive note. ‘I Think I’m Moving Forward’ is lyrically upbeat, and clumsy train metaphor aside, is one of the best songs on the album, Dan Lambton declaring “I’ve finally sent all my skeletons away like the things I couldn’t fix and people I couldn’t change”. ‘…And We’re Just Changing’ is all about looking to the future, with the line “Living in the past never helped me, or anyone, move forward” adding a well needed dose of hope.
At twelve songs, it could be shorter. ‘Spread Me All Over Illinois’ and ‘Loose Ends’ could have easily been cut, falling victim to too much stylistic repetition. Without a doubt, Real Friends mean every syllable of every word, and that is the biggest strength of ‘Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing’. It’s a cathartic collection of songs that has its fair share of high points and will keep Real Friends moving in the right direction, even if in places it doesn’t quite deliver on what they are capable of.
CHRIS HILSON