New Found Glory - 'Radiosurgery'

At this point, New Found Glory has become a pop-punk institution. They’ve been cranking out tunes about girls and break-ups for over a decade now. They’ve survived the major label death machine. If you get to open for them, you’ve made it. Which is why I’m not so crestfallen by Radiosurgery, the band’s seventh (!!!) studio record. A supposed concept album about the different emotions one goes through during a break-up (I thought that was all of their albums?), Radiosurgery is the second worst NFG record to date, behind the ill-advised pop rock effort Coming Home.

But for a while, it doesn’t seem that way. The first half of Radiosurgery is loaded with bangers sure to go over well live. “Radiosurgery” has a clunker of a chorus lyrically (“I can’t get your face out of my head / It makes my brain hurt”?), but it’s still super catchy. “Anthem For the Unwanted” is loaded with “whoas,” a pop-punk cornerstone, while “Drill It In My Brain” opts for handclaps instead. “I’m Not the One” is standard NFG fare, but it’s still bouncy and fun. “Ready, Aim, Fire!” has an awesome opening guitar riff with a slight Celtic rock quality to it, which is kind of random for NFG, but any artistic growth is better than none.

Then the record just sort of collapses in on itself. “Dumped” tries to get by on “whoas” again, but I only have so many “whoas” to give. Then the record enters creepster territory. “Summer Fling, Don’t Mean a Thing” is a bitter break-up tune directed towards a lady with casual dating preferences. “Caught in the Act,” featuring Bethany Cosentino from Best Coast, flips that bitterness towards desperation. “I’m caught in the act / But for tonight let’s do something that we’re gonna regret” goes the chorus (Is it sex? I think it’s about sex!). There’s something creepy about a band of guys in their early 30s singing this song to crowds likely half their age. Someone save the children.

After another three ho-hum tracks, Radiosurgery mercifully ends. There are enough worthy additions to the band’s live set, but as a whole, it’s a pretty uneven record. What listeners get here is essentially two EPs. One of them is solid (the record’s first half); one of them is embarrassing (the second half).

New Found Glory - 'New Found Glory [10th Anniversary Edition]'

I’ve always felt weird about re-releases of recent albums, be they remasters, deluxe editions or just plain ol’ alternate covers. Who are they meant for? Fans should already own such albums, and if they’re really hardcore, they probably have whatever bonus tracks are tacked on. Hence my reticence to hop on recent remaster jobs for albums I already own by the Beatles and Jawbox. Ah, but in the case of New Found Glory’s 10th anniversary CD/DVD edition of their self-titled major label debut, perhaps a re-release isn’t such a bad idea.

Let’s go back to the Beatles and Jawbox references. In the case of the Fab Four, a lot of people had problems with the original CD mastering from the ’80s. Personally, I think the new mixes, while better, aren’t good enough for me to replace my entire collection. But I would buy them for other people over the original CD mixes. Same with Jawbox’s For Your Own Special Sweetheart reissue. I’m glad it’s available in a physical format again and I would buy it for anyone in need of a musical education, but I already own the original version. I’m set. And I would do the same for New Found Glory.

See, I’ve been a fan of NFG for about a decade. I dig the pop punk sound, the hardcore rhythms and the bouncy, fun energy. Throw whatever criticism you want at NFG – they’re not tru punx, their lyrics objectify women, vocalist Jordan Pundik can’t sing, whatever – in the end I’m still going to bump tunes like “Goodbye Song” and “Second to Last” while you break down emo gender politics and punk rock social castes. But it’s because of this feeling that I realize I sort of, kind of, maybe didn’t need to buy the deluxe edition of New Found Glory.

The CD portion opens with the album’s original 12 songs, with the original mix Neal Avron provided in 2000, not that a remastering was needed. Avron’s production is certainly an upgrade compared to the band’s debut, Nothing Gold Can Stay, but it’s still raw enough compared to all of the spit-shined pop punk acts that followed in NFG’s wake. This record is still relevant today. Forget Set Your Goals or Four Year Strong; this is all you need in terms of pop punk mixed with breakdowns. Given that it came out 10 years ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if some NFG fans don’t even own it, since the group didn’t really blow up until 2002’s Sticks and Stones. Hell, I’ve met fans in the last year that have never heard of From the Screen to Your Stereo, let alone listened to it.

Those people are the core demographic for this new version. I already own bonus tracks “So Many Ways” (Welcome to the Family compilation) and “Ex-Miss” (Dragging the Lake, although thanks to this and Alkaline Trio’s Remains, I think I might sell it). “The Radio Song” is just a less awesome version of “Come Back Bon Jovi” with different lyrics (also from Welcome to the Family). The liner notes state that “The Minute I Met You” has never been played live, and I can see why. It’s the weakest track of the bunch. The demos for “Better Off Dead” and “All About Her,” as well as the late, great Jerry Finn’s alternate mix for “Hit or Miss,” don’t offer any insight or drastic differences to the respective songs, and are thus unnecessary.

The accompanying DVD is just a port of the band’s 2002 tour doc The Story So Far, and the cynic in me feels like it was attached just because it wasn’t selling well enough on its own. The documentary itself plays out like an infomercial for the band without much focus. The members talk about how they like each other, we get a few clips of live footage and then it’s over. Music videos and an even worse video zine doc pad out the DVD’s running time. Shit sucks. A new retrospective would’ve been appreciated; as is, the somewhat repetitive recollections in the liner notes will have to do.

But for the next generation of mall punks, self-styled “lost romantics” and, uh, young people, this new edition is a worthy purchase. I mean, it’s still New Found Glory. It’s a great album, and it’s backed by some choice rarities (“So Many Ways,” “Ex-Miss”). It’s a little overpriced, but given what a pain in the arse it would probably be to find Welcome to the Family (and, um, the Clockstoppers soundtrack), it’s certainly a convenient way to check out a classic punk record from the Aughties and a few of its B-sides.

Dashboard Confessional / New Found Glory live at the Trocadero

It was like a scene straight out of Andy Greenwald’s Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo: Bespectacled, awkward emo folks mingle with more frat-ish, sweatshirt ‘n’ backwards baseball cap types while Dashboard Confessional plays an acoustic set alongside a punk band. In front of me, two lovers sway to strains of songs like “Remember to Breathe” and “Carry This Picture For Luck.” She’s wearing a knitted wool scarf and hat; he’s got shaggy black hair and a scraggly beard; they’re both wearing sweaters and glasses. To my right, two friends discuss the setlist and Flyers stats with equal authority. The only difference is that it’s not 2000; it’s 2009.

Following the cancellation of a planned electric/full band tour, Dashboard Confessional – reduced to central figure Chris Carrabba and guitarist/pianist John Lefler – played an acoustic set with Florida pop-punkers A New Found Glory (they claimed the “A” was for “acoustic,” the teases), with a sold out stop Philadelphia’s the Trocadero Sat., Dec. 12. NFG’s flirtations didn’t end there. When a fan requested “The Glory of Love,” off of the awesome From the Screen to Your Stereo, the band obliged with about 10 seconds of a ragtime-y version. They were just messing around, but it actually sounded kinda good. Same goes for the first verse and chorus of Ben Folds Five’s “Brick.” Granted, they were a little too stoked to be playing a song about abortion, but dang it sounded sweet. Their final act of teasing came when they wished the crowd a merry Christmas and then didn’t play “Ex-Miss,” instead opting for a cover of “The Christmas Song.”

While NFG’s songs were never really meant to be played unplugged, the group got by on spirit and jokes. Some of the humor came from a defensive place – guitarist Chad Gilbert, clearly uncomfortable with the set-up, mentioned his band’s own flubs a few times too many. But he also kidded the crowd about “fucking shit up” in “Moshadelphia.” While the set skewed a little too much towards Sticks and Stones for my taste, NFG still put on a funny, entertaining set. Plus, they played “Broken Sound” from Nothing Gold Can Stay. Awesome.

Setlist

1. Truth of My Youth
2. Sonny
3. Something I Call Personality
4. It’s Not Your Fault
5. The Story So Far
6. Forget My Name
7. 46
8. I Don’t Wanna Know
9. My Friends Over You
10. Brick [partial, Ben Folds Five Cover]
11. The Glory of Love [partial, Peter Cetera cover]
12. Too Good to Be
13. Hit or Miss
14. Broken Sound
15. The Christmas Song [Mel Tormé cover]

While concert attendees were fairly responsive to NFG, they lost their shit for Dashboard Confessional. It’s pretty clear why: Carrabba and Lefler brought the hits. Also, they had Troc staff pass out shakers, inviting fans to A) join in the songs and B) visit dcbootlegs.com to download a recording of the show. Audience participation is the best, and DC knows how to maximize it. Carrabba opened with old favorites “The Best Deceptions” and “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most,” to the crowd’s delight. More oldies/goodies like “The Good Fight” and “Saints and Sailors” followed, with a few newer tunes sprinkled in.

Generally speaking, Carrabba avoided his post-A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar albums, playing only two songs off of 2006’s Dusk and Summer (singles “Don’t Wait” and “Stolen”), one track off of 2007’s The Shade of Poison Trees (“Where There’s Gold”) and three from this year’s Alter the Ending (“Belle of the Boulevard,” “Until Morning” and “Get Me Right”). The crowd didn’t seem too enthralled by Lefler’s own “Up My Sleeve,” perhaps because it rips a bit too much from the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” which is too good a song for anyone to imitate.

I had my own qualms with the set – I would’ve loved to have heard “So Long, So Long,” or So Impossible from start to finish, or “Wearing Thin” as long as I’m dreaming – but the songs Carrabba did select for the show were mighty fine. It’s cool that despite Dashboard Confessional’s latter day rock band sound, he still returns to his acoustic roots on occasion. Rag on the emo icon all ye want; dude still puts on a fun show for his fans. He delivers full-throated renditions of their favorite songs and he engages them on a personal level. I feel bad for the kids in Detroit, which the original canceled tour was supposed to hit Dec. 12. They missed out.

Setlist

1. The Best Deceptions
2. The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most
3. Bend and Not Break
4. The Good Fight
5. Belle of the Boulevard
6. As Lovers Go
7. Don’t Wait
8. Carry This Picture For Luck
9. Saints and Sailors
10. Until Morning
11. Where There’s Gold
12. Screaming Infidelities
13. Up My Sleeve [John Lefler]
14. The Swiss Army Romance
15. Get Me Right
16. Vindicated
17. Stolen

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18. Remember to Breathe
19. Hands Down

Vinyl Vednesday 12/9

[Vinyl Vednesday is a weekly feature about three favorite vinyl finds. It’s not meant to be a dick-measuring contest, but it kinda is. This week’s entry is on New Found Glory, in honor of their sold out 12/12 acoustic show at the Trocadero with Dashboard Confessional. E-mail pelonej1@gmail.com with your own big finds!]

Records: New Found Glory’s New Found Glory (2000) on picture disc, “Listen to My Friends” single (2009) on clear white, and Not Without a Fight (2009) on tan camo marble something or other.

Place of Purchase: The self-titled album came from eBay. “Listen to My Friends” was an impulse buy from Hot Topic, while Not Without a Fight was an intended HT purchase from the start.

Thoughts: Oh Lordy, how I wish I owned Nothing Gold Can Stay on vinyl, but that ish is too expensive for a humble service worker like me. Of course, now that I say that, I know I’m going to try to buy it again sometime soon. For the time being, though, my best NFG find is their self-titled second record. There are a number of different picture discs floating out there; mine has a skateboard on one side and a joystick on the other. Gold will always be my favorite NFG record, but the s/t is mighty fine as well – big hooks, big breakdowns, even the occasional bass-boom abound on this hardcore-indebted pop-punk ode to girls and their mysterious ways. Side note: The guy I bought this from packaged my copy with Sticks and Stones sleeves, which gave me quite a start when I opened the box. I saved them because… well… maybe I’ll need them for packing material as well?

Less significant to me (now) is the band’s “Listen to Your Friends” single. The B-side is a karaoke (re: instrumental) version of the song, which I don’t have any reason to listen to ever, although it did come with a limited edition poster priced at a whopping $2. This seven-inch was valuable to me at one point, though. After Coming Home, I’d pretty much given up on NFG. But when I saw this single while shopping at Hot Topic, I felt this nagging, Irish Catholic guilt-derived need to give the band one more chance (perhaps the pretty great EP The Tip of the Iceberg contributed to this feeling). Thank goodness for my deeply rooted neuroses, because “Listen to Your Friends” is a classic NFG romper-stomper, which inspired me to pick up…

Not Without a Fight is a nifty return to form. The band’s output got spotty after New Found Glory – I hated Sticks and Stones (although I’m apparently in the minority), loved Catalyst, and just did not dig Coming Home and From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II – but their work since then has been great. Their topics have slightly broadened, in that a lot of these love songs could just as easily be about the band, but it’s still the NFG I fell in love with in high school. They’re pop-punk lifers, and apparently so am I.

New Found Glory - 'Not Without a Fight'

Epitaph dropped its second comeback album of 2009 this month with New Found Glory’s Not Without a Fight. Now, it’s not NFG’s best (that would be either Nothing Gold Can Stay or New Found Glory; take your pick). But it’s the sort of catchy, modest success that’ll remind fans why they loved the band in the first place. Lyrically, the record is a bit darker than the average NFG anti-love song. The band’s hardcore roots are slightly more prevalent, at least to the extent that there are way more gang vocals. But mostly, it’s just a great NFG pop-punk record, uncomplicated and ready to rock.

The album’s packaging promises that “the undisputed heavyweight champions of pop punk are back,” and for the first half, that sounds totally accurate. “Right Where We Left Off” lives up to its name, delivering the same driving pop-punk of The Tip of The Iceberg EP, only better. “Don’t Let Her Pull You Down” is another rocker, every bit as catchy as “My Friends Over You” or “Hit or Miss.” Same goes for lead single “Listen to Your Friends,” a ribald tale of poor life decisions that warns listeners to always heed their friends’ advice when dating batshit insane curb-stompers. Past and future blink-182 member Mark Hoppus feels barely present in the producer role. Not Without a Fight is crisp but not overproduced. The record occasionally comes out a little dry – like a really, really good demo – but as a whole, the album is rocking in its stripped down format, a complete reversal from the overstuffed Coming Home album.

The lyrics are still pretty juvenile, though, so if you never liked NFG before, chances are slim that this will change your mind. Clichés abound with lines like “serious like a heart attack” and “It’s time I rain on your parade.” But frontman Jordan Pundik sings it so gosh dang well. I hate championing music whose message I don’t really care about, but Not Without a Fight is too infectious to ignore. That said, another turn-off for some might the album’s slightly soggy middle. “47” is an early weak point, as is the unremarkable “I’ll Never Love Again.” “Reasons” is a ballad, and that’s just not something NFG was ever good at. The band has always been slightly hokey; “Reasons” tips into the negative.

However, these lesser tracks are broken up by songs like “Truck Stop Blues,” a poppy tour song, and “Tangled Up,” which takes all of the frustration of “I’ll Never Love Again” and adds a kickass mall-punk chorus. So while Not Without a Fight isn’t a perfect record, it never lulls for too long. It’s a 12-song collection, 36 minutes long, and extremely satisfying for old and new fans alike. This album dropped the same day as Cursive’s Mama, I’m Swollen and Propagandhi’s Supporting Caste, and I feel no shame in labeling Not Without a Fight as my favorite release of that week. The guys in NFG have always been great pop songwriters with a punk bent, and even after their major label fallout, they’re still crafting jawsome jams six albums in.