Real Friends - "The Home Inside My Head" (Album Review)

Real Friends is a band that I've really enjoyed from the current crop of pop/punk, emo-ish bands. Yeah, they've had some pitfalls lyrically, musically, and production wise on some of their previous releases. I still can't deny that even though a flaw or two existed on previous material I've continued to enjoy the band and anticipate their releases. Their debut album Maybe This Place Is The Same And We're Just Changing was a pretty good album overall, but it didn't hit me as hard as a I would have liked. When I heard the first single, "Colder Quicker" from the new album, Home Inside My Head, I noticed it was definitely a huge move in the right direction. I dove into this new album with some pretty high expectations.

After a few listens I can easily say The Home Inside My Head is much closer to what I wanted from Real Friends' debut album. It's stronger in almost every way. It is a much better produced and mixed album. Going to Ed Rose proved to be the right thing to do. He's helped the band move closer to the next level. That in turn helps the overall sound of the album and the band in about every aspect. Even a big bulk of the lyrics are better. Yes, there are some cringe-worthy lyrics on here, but the band is much better off lyrically on quite a few songs on this album. Acoustic song "Eastwick" is one of the big standouts. I think the guitar work sounds nice and Dan Lambton's vocals sound fantastic. Lambton's vocal performance as a whole is stronger than it has ever been on past releases. Lambton channels his inner Kenny Vasoli all over the album in a pretty impressive way.

Musically, the band has a better balance than they had on their debut album. The drums sound much better produced on this album than on previous releases. It's pretty evident on "Colder Quicker" that this band has grown some. It's easily one of the best songs the band has ever written. It's stronger lyrically than most Real Friends songs and it's a cohesive, well performed song. "Mess" is a personal favorite of mine. It lyrically returns back to some themes Real Friends have covered in the past in a neat way with references to being a lost boy. I enjoy the chorus. It's infectiously catchy."Mokena" is more of a somber song. I think Real Friends usually do somber songs pretty well and this song is no exception. I enjoy it, musically. Lyrically, it has some pitfalls, but the song has grown on me with repeated listens. The guitar work on "Keep Lying To Me" is great. It feels urgent right out the gate and Lambton's vocals soar on the back of it with ease.

I don't think this band has hit their peak just yet, but The Home Inside My Head is easily the best set of songs they've ever recorded. The band shows improvement in about every category and if they can continue to tweak a thing or two, here or there, then I think they will continue to show some good positive momentum going forward. This was easily one of the most anticipated pop/punk emo leaning albums of the summer and the band really stepped up to the plate and delivered a pretty satisfying album. It might not be everything I wanted, but it's a whole lot closer, and pretty darn good! I think it lives up to the hype of the band a lot more. I'll return to this one quite a bit and If you've ever been a fan of the band I think you'll enjoy this album. This may even sway a negative critic or two of the band's previous material.