Real Friends released their newest EP titled “There’s Nothing Worse Than Too Late” on February 24th 2023 via Pure Noise Records.
It’s pretty remarkable how a narrowly perceived musical genre such as Pop Punk can actually be far broader than sometimes expected. In that sense, it’s easy for so many bands - even those which are more well-known than others - to not necessarily catch someone’s attention. However, there’s always a (subjective) reason. Real Friends falls in that category for me; having listened to a ton of pop punk, I’ve always seen their name pop (pun not intended) up somewhere but never really gave them that much attention. 2018’s "Composure" was the album I actually listened to a normal amount and gave more than a few spins. I realised then what didn’t make me go overboard with the band; it was mostly the vocals. I could understand why the band is popular the way it is and how good they are but something just didn’t click.
Two years later the band announced that Dan Lambton - the band’s original singer for ten years - was parting ways with the rest of them (ouch) but the band would still continue with someone new. Enter Cody Muraro - formerly of Youth Fountain and (ding ding) Parting Ways - plus Real Friends were welcomed to a new record label, namely Pure Noise Records (after Fearless Records). The news grazed my attention span but to no avail; the “damage” had been done, it seemed. I didn’t listen to the band’s first new EP with Muraro, “Torn in Two” in 2021 but for some reason the first singles in 2022 for their newer EP “There’s Nothing Worse than Too Late” crawled into my pop punk playlists.
I can see how such a tremendous shift to a band’s sound can alienate long-time fans but for me it was the opposite, exactly because I wasn’t a die-hard fan. I definitely enjoy the vocals much more now, but I feel like the musical shift is general; to put it in simple terms, if Real Friends were a pop punk version of something like the Wonder Years, now they are an emo version of something like the State Champs. I liked the new Wonder Years record much more than the latest State Champs record but that’s a different story.
If “Torn in Two” was an introduction to the new “Real Friends”, things are becoming clearer with “There’s Nothing Worse than Too Late”. With the exception of the (truly exceptional) ballad “I Don’t Have to Do That Anymore”, this is a modern pop punk EP to the core of what anyone vaguely associated with this genre would expect and it’s absolutely fantastic. The band showcases an array of different approaches to what makes a song catchy, from faster riffs and highly interesting progression - ideas to more mid-tempo chorus sing-a-longs and there isn’t a song I don’t love on this record - except for “Strangers” which is alright and I would skip the acoustic renditions of the two main singles ("Tell Me You’re Sorry" / "Always Lose"); the originals are great and enough. The overall production feels a lot more balanced with the new vocals, which, again, are totally my cup of preference. I’m now sold, so what’s next?
8.5/10
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