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New Found Glory – Not Without a Fight

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Mar 7, 2019.

  1. Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

    This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

    When New Found Glory broke into the mainstream in the early 2000s, it certainly wasn’t amongst a shortage of pop-punk bands. The post-Blink boom meant that for a few years, every bunch of spiky-haired kids in Dickies was getting picked up by a major and amassing radio and MTV coverage. But what always set New Found Glory apart from their Warped Tour ilk was their genuine connection to heavy music. A teenaged Chad Gilbert was the vocalist for metalcore legends Shai Hulud before he was New Found Glory’s guitarist, and where other pop-punk bands of the time were taking influence from the likes of Descendents and Screeching Weasel, NFG were drawing more from East Coast hardcore like Madball and Snapcase. They positioned NYHC guitar tones as the backdrop to sickly-sweet pop vocals, and mastered both elements better than any of their peers could.

    This distinction set New Found Glory up for longevity that outlasted pop punk’s commercial day in the sun, and such longevity makes inevitable – and perhaps relies on – a change in course. So in 2006, while bands like Midtown and Fenix TX had dissolved around them, New Found Glory released their fifth album Coming Home. It swapped the crunchy riffs for mid-tempo soft rock more comparable to, say, Journey than to their heavy early influences. It was a smart move, with pop-punk by now commercially dead in the water as emo-pop took its place, and one that paid off too; it was likely better received critically than any of their records prior.

    But though the experimentation wasn’t unwelcome, something about it felt uncomfortable, as if the band could never fully commit to it. The songs were good, but lacked the conviction that the purity of their hardcore roots lent their earlier work. Besides, in the aftermath of the record, circumstances became less rosy for them; they parted ways with Geffen Records, frustrated with the label’s treatment of the album, and both Gilbert and lead singer Jordan Pundik went through divorces the following year. By 2008, the band were in a place where pianos weren’t going to cut it anymore. As work began on their sixth record, they started throwing a new term around in reference to themselves and tourmates A Day To Remember, Four Year Strong and Set Your Goals: ‘easycore.’ These were bands that combined the catchiest heights of pop-punk with the aggression of hardcore and metalcore.

    Recorded with Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and released on Epitaph (NFG’s first record on an indie since their debut), Not Without a Fight was a reintroduction and a reclamation. The first track “Right Where We Left Off” opens the record with the lines, “You can’t get rid of me that easy, no / Not without a fight”; though the song seems to be addressed to a volatile lover, it’s easy to see how those opening lyrics ring doubly true as a statement of intent for the entire record. Where they could have let themselves be written off as a band past their prime, losing touch with what made them special in the first place, they returned with a triumphant snarl and a newly clear vision of what this band was supposed to be; if there was one thing they were no longer short on, it was conviction.

    Hardcore’s presence is felt on this record more urgently than on any previous, both musically and in its fighting spirit. The chugging guitars of “Such A Mess” and “47” push their East Coast influences to the forefront, while Gilbert’s hype-man shouts in “Don’t Let Her Pull You Down” provide a heavier edge than Pundik’s signature whine could manage. When paired with the undeniable catchiness that NFG have always excelled at, at its best here on “Tangled Up” and “Listen To Your Friends,” it carries the record with a unique energy and momentum.

    Despite the strength of the songs, though, the record’s lyrical content does reveal a pitfall in the pop-punk/hardcore crossover. Hardcore’s worldview is typically accusatory rather than introspective; ‘you’ far more often than ‘I.’ But when applied to pop punk subject matter, which mostly (exclusively, on this record) deals with relationship angst, the lack of introspection means a constant and exhausting posing of love interest as antagonist. Take “Heartless At Best,” named for the line “The twisted thoughts that come out of your mind are heartless at best,” or “Listen To Your Friends,” which declares, “I should have listened to my friends when they told me you had bad intentions.” At a certain point in the record, the finger pointing begins to feel immature at best, and subtly misogynistic at worst.

    Still, though not a flawless record, Not Without a Fight holds its own ten years on as one of the strongest in New Found Glory’s sizeable catalog. And as the sound of the band learning how to move forward embracing their identity rather than pushing it aside, it marks perhaps the most crucial moment in their output too. More crucial still, though, is the way this record reanimated pop punk: post-2009, bands like The Wonder Years, Knuckle Puck and The Story So Far (the latter of which took their name from an early NFG song) emerged with a shared hardcore-infused sound that had Not Without a Fight’s fingerprints all over it. Though this second pop-punk golden age never reached the commercial heights of the first, it was the most fertile the genre had been in a decade, and New Found Glory were the architects of it. They were happy to champion it, putting together tour packages that showcased the genre’s new lease of life and adopting the motto ‘Pop Punk’s Not Dead.’ Yet it’s not a stretch to say that had New Found Glory gone down without a fight a decade ago, it may well be.

     
    Lastsliceofpizza likes this.
  2. I've always loved this record. I'm glad that you covered the lyrical content, as it is definitely the most off-putting element of the record, but I love the riffs and vocal melodies.

    Great review!
     
    Lastsliceofpizza and JRGComedy like this.
  3. m9tt

    heaven knows what i am

    The best song off this album didn't even make the record... I'm the Fool is one of the best NFG songs.
     
    Analog Drummer, pbueddi and DeRRek like this.
  4. parkerxcore

    Somebody's gonna miss us Supporter

    Loved this record when it was released. Still holds up.
     
    Dan O'Neill and DeRRek like this.
  5. DeRRek

    Trusted

    Great read. NFG are playing slam dunk this year and part of me was hoping for this album played in full for its 10 year anniversary. Still absolutely love truck stop blues. The start of that song is just the best.
     
    Lastsliceofpizza likes this.
  6. Ryan

    Might be Spider-Man...

    Love this record, always thought of it as Self Titled's sibling.
     
    Pepetito and Dan O'Neill like this.
  7. marceting

    Trusted

    Love the album, great to recall the background of the time
     
  8. reachingfor

    Regular Supporter

    Great review! Just finished revisiting the album and it’s still so fun
     
  9. pbueddi

    Trusted

    Nothing to do with the songs themselves, but I loved the album artwork for this record.
     
    Analog Drummer likes this.
  10. SpinelessYesBloke

    Co-host of The Wasting Time Podcast

    Unpopular opinion, but I thought Radiosurgery was so much better (minus the song Radiosurgery which was not good).
     
    thrilliam, reachingfor, mmhmm and 2 others like this.
  11. HelloThisIsDog

    Trusted

    Definitely my favorite NFG record. After all the stuff with Steve went down and I revisited this record, it made some lines very uncomfortable to listen to. Case in point...

    You left me pictures just to tease me
    Or maybe out of spite
    You used your body to confuse me
    Your hips swing just right
    How do I control myself around you
    I need to be locked up

    Edit: IIRC Steve wrote a lot of the lyrics?
     
    Dan O'Neill likes this.
  12. mmhmm

    Trusted Prestigious

    Might be my least favorite NFG album. The first song is such a clunky intro and it sets the tone for the rest of the record. Not many songs I'd go back to.
     
  13. AsfAstAswegofar

    Regular

    It's catchy and well written but there are so many cringeworthy lyrics on this thing. I'll take coming home please. That album was perfect.
     
  14. parkerxcore

    Somebody's gonna miss us Supporter

    Ah I just don't get the Radiosurgery hype. Summer Flings Don't Mean a Thing is a banger though.
     
    Analog Drummer and Pepetito like this.
  15. fredwordsmith

    Trusted Supporter

    Man, color me in the minority. On the whole, I think this is their weakest effort by a mile. It still has some absolute bangers, but it doesn't hit me the same way almost every other one of their records does.

    Truck Stop Blues, 47, Don't Let Her Pull You Down and Listen To Your Friends are all fantastic NFG songs, full stop. I also have a soft spot for Heartless at Best, if only because that riff is a monster.
     
    Analog Drummer and pbueddi like this.