New Found Glory: Resurrection

Artist: New Found Glory
Title: Resurrection
Format Reviewed: CD
Format Released: 6th October 2014
Reviewed By: Dan Stoten

There's no doubt it's been a tricky eighteen months or so for New Found Glory; there's clear rationale for calling their latest album Resurrection. Despite that, the seminal US pop-punks have recorded and released this, their eighth studio album, through Hopeless Records to what can only be described as near-hysterical acclaim. 'Back to their roots' and 'NFG how they used to be' scream headlines, while the two singles released ahead of the album (Selfless and Ready and Willing) have racked up nearly 650,000 YouTube views between them.

The fact of the matter is, however, that this is one of the poorest New Found Glory records the (now) four-piece have released in their seventeen year history.

Having been a massive fan of the band for a good twelve years of that history, it pains me to say such a thing. However, there are a whole series of issues here which negatively impact on Resurrection.

Before talking through those, though, I want to mention the positives. Fundamentally, Ready And Willing is a stone-cold stunner of a track. It's got enough melody, easily enough catchiness and plenty of bounce; all of which combine to make a brilliantly energetic and cheeky pop-punk anthem. Had it been released earlier, this could well have been a soundtrack to the summer: it's also hugely radio-friendly.

Equally, Selfless is a solid song, with some particularly good lyrics. Hinting back to the slightly heavier edge of Catalyst-era NFG, there's some brilliant choppy riffage and crashing cymbal to get your head bouncing in time, as well as Pundik's angst-ridden vocals.

There is also some sparkle scattered into the chorus and intro of One More Round and the chorus of The Worst Person, which has the standard breakdown-of-relationship lyrical content, but also some brilliantly fast drumming and a bouncy feel once more.

Other than that, though, there is nothing here to elevate Resurrection above a thoroughly mediocre, middle of the road record. There's no further sparkle, and it's disappointing to state that the majority of the NFG magic across the thirteen tracks has been added to the two singles and to the CD case and design (it's cool, if a bit generic).

There's a curiously muffled, deep sound to the guitars in the mix and production, too, which sounds a little odd. One of the best things about previous NFG records is the sharp edginess of the guitar, the clarity of the distortion and of the riffs. Here, though, it sounds muffled and overly deep. It doesn't suit at all, meaning that elements of the album are drowned up as you vainly turn the volume up to try and catch the intricacies you hope are there.

What Resurrection is, however, is a thoroughly acceptable radio album, and a brilliant arena record. There's enough soaring choruses and easy sing-alongs here to win legions of new fans, and a safe-ness in each song which means any station would be fine playing the tracks prime-time. I'm as pleased as the next person when our scene gets the commercial recognition it deserves, but again, NFG have gone so bland here that actually the record is unlikely to receive much of that either.

When you look back over their discography, there are some absolute gems. Before now, New Found Glory hadn't released a single bad album; and even those which didn't receive acclaim as widespread as this were four-and-a-half or five star albums. Comparing this to Radiosurgery, Sticks and Stones and Catalyst is like comparing a Bentley with a Reliant Robin, It's simply not in the same class.

I guess that's the problem. When you know a band can release such masterpieces, an average, anodyne record is a huge disappointment. Let's hope NFG can resurrect themselves from this.