New Found Glory
(Drive-Thru Records)
1 1/2 stars (out of 5 stars)
Reviewed: April 16, 2001
By Tony Bonyata
It's a fact that the music scene is in a deep sleep, but don't blame Britney and the Backstreet Boys. They're just serving the purpose of giving ten-year olds something sweet to chew on, before discarding it after realizing there wasn't much flavor to begin with. Let's face it, disposable bubblegum has always been around, although maybe not so prevalent as it is today, and, most likely, always will be.
The real problem with music today is that a majority of the artists who are supposedly the alternative to this teeny-bopper fodder are the ones who are afraid to take risks, instead intent on churning out the same old drivel.
Take the Coral Springs, Florida quintet New Found Glory for example. The sound of their self-titled, second full-length release is filled with guitar hooks, melody and a punky attitude. So what. If Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong had a nickel for every aping band like this that ripped their punk-meets-pop sound he could afford enough safety pins to attach them all together from L.A. to New York.
From the herky-jerky rhythm of the opening track "Better Off Dead" to the formulaic Green Day-light of "Hit or Miss" and driving but directionless rhythms that do a ‘lawn job' through the rest of the album, New Found Glory's strength of miming punk rock is also their weakness as they water it down and totally miss the point of what it was all about in the first place. Maybe if they went back and actually listened to the urgency of band's like The Ramones, Sex Pistols and The Clash, instead of succumbing to a tested formula that the record companies think will sell, they'd be a lot better off.
On "Boy Crazy" vocalist Jordan Pundik sings, "This song is for stupid girls, who thinks that every boy is all about them," in a sugary sweet voice, proving that maybe they do serve a purpose after all - to give twelve-year olds something to listen to after they grow out of their Britney phase.