Columbia City Paper

Believe it or not, there was a time before Geffen and MTV’s “TRL,” a time when the “pop punk” formula didn’t evoke the same sort of knee-jerk repulsion elicited by The Jonas Brothers.

On one end of the spectrum you had the crisp Epitaph/Fat Wreck Chords/So. Cal cabal with granddaddies Bad Religion, Fat Mike sneering up front of NOFX, Pennywise, etc. and Face to Face bringing up the rear. On the other end of the spectrum was the Lookout! Records/Bay Area camp of stinkier romantics like Jawbreaker, Cringer, Sam I Am, Crimpshrine, and, yes, even Green Day in the Gilman Street days (the days prior to dropping to their knees to unzip Satan’s khaki slacks). Even some Revelation bands like the Gorilla Biscuits, Inside Out and Farside were bringing hardcore closer to pop.

New Found Glory is somewhere in the middle of all that: part modern dilettante, part old school purist; part early 90’s reinactors, part legitimate 90’s era pop punk band who hopped the train a millisecond after it left the station. They’re playing a style of music that is suffering a canned “X Games” type of stigma these days, but they’re playing it well and at least they’re playing it on Epitaph and not Nickelodeon.

If you’re into it –and, face it, when you have a few drinks and give yourself up to it, who isn’t?—then head on out and catch them. Hell, you already know exactly what they sound like.

-Norbet Sykes

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