New Found Glory – Listen Up!
Pure Noise Records
8,5/10,0
Brief:
It’s been decades since NEW FOUND GLORY’s likeness was chiseled onto pop-punk’s Mount Rushmore, but as the quartet, formed in Coral Springs, Florida, in 1997, approach their landmark 30th anniversary, they still have a lot to say.
The album’s spirit is indeed a testament to resilience, shaped not only by Gilbert’s ongoing battle with an aggressive metastatic cancer but also the ever-evolving dynamic between him and his bandmates – vocalist Jordan Pundik, bassist Ian Grushka and drummer Cyrus Bolooki – as they continue to push each other creatively. It’s the same full-hearted sentiment that colored their 2023 acoustic EP, Make The Most Of It, here delivered in three-minute bursts of the band’s trademark pop-punk sound: the shiny melodies that launched them onto TRL in the early 2000s, the ghosts of the tight-knit punk and hardcore scenes they came up in as teenagers.
That kinetic energy informed Listen Up! from its earliest stages of the writing process, with Bolooki and Grushka traveling to Gilbert’s Nashville-area home to flesh out the songs the guitarist had been crafting. Sitting face to face with their instruments, the three fell into a rhythm of workshopping and arranging together, leaning into a riff-first mentality that harkened back to iconic songs like “My Friends Over You” and “All Downhill From Here” in what Bolooki calls a musical return to form.
True to their word, first single “100%” puts New Found Glory’s renewed approach on full display, an instant classic the group road-tested all summer on tour with The Offspring and Jimmy Eat World. Bursting with tightly wound guitar chugs and Pundik’s iconic timbre, the track is as much a love song as it is a renewed commitment from the band to its audience – now a multigenerational affair as era-defining tracks from gold and platinum albums like 2000’s New Found Glory, 2002’s Sticks And Stones and 2004’s Catalyst get the same fervent live response as the fan-favorite collection of covers like “Kiss Me” and “Let It Go.”
Elsewhere on the album, “Laugh It Off” trembles with the darkly hewn moodiness of Catalyst, “Treat Yourself” gallops with skate-punk fury and “Medicine,” which Pundik likens to Matthew Sweet’s brand of power-pop, provides a lighter musical moment. Make The Most Of It cut “Dream Born Again,” here in full-band form, sparkles with echoes of Sunny Day Real Estate, while the album-closing “Frankenstein’s Monster” reflects on Gilbert’s cancer journey over the last few years – a struggle that could have derailed the band but instead fueled the guitarist to carry his positivity and drive straight into the studio alongside producer Steve Evetts (Saves The Day, Lifetime) and NFG touring guitarist (and Four Year Strong frontman) Dan O’Connor, who joined the band in the studio for the first time.
At this stage in their decorated career, New Found Glory’s goals are straightforward: keep inspiring the next generation of artists and continue writing songs that help their audience – and themselves – find strength, courage, and joy. The band has come a long way from their humble South Florida beginnings, as detailed on the Listen Up! standout “Beer And Blood Stains,” a nostalgic riff-factory detailing the band’s early battle scars at local clubs, where danger meant more than catching a stray elbow in the swirl of a circle pit. “Looking back, was it fun or crime?” Pundik muses on the track before elevating the album’s simple-yet-profound mission statement: “It’s good to be alive.”
[Edited Press Release]
Tracklist:
- Boom Roasted
- 100%
- Laugh It Off
- A Love Song
- Beer And Blood Stains
- Medicine
- Treat Yourself
- Dream Born Again
- You Got This
- Frankenstein’s Monster
Main Focus Tracks:
- Boom Roasted
- 100%
- Laugh It Off
- A Love Song
Other Recommended Tracks:
- Beer And Blood Stains
- Dream Born Again
- You Got This
Line-Up:
Jordan Pundik – Vocals
Ian Grushka – Baixo, backing vocals
Chad Gilbert – Guitars, backing vocals
Cyrus Bolooki – Drums
Comments:
New Found Glory seems to have rediscovered a vigor that had been missing in recent years with Listen Up, which contains some excellent, energetic pop-punk tracks. A splendid collection of pop-punk gems!
Contacts:
Video:
Selected Discography:
Nothing Gold Can Stay (1999)
New Found Glory (2000)
Sticks and Stones (2002)
Catalyst (2004)
Coming Home (2006)
Not Without a Fight (2009)
Radiosurgery (2011)
Resurrection (2014)
Makes Me Sick (2017)
Listen Up! (2026)
Photo credit: band