My friend Mike (Given2FlyM here at Epinions) has been singing the praises of Florida pop punksters A New Found Glory for months now, mostly to my deaf ears. After all, punk music is probably the type of music that is most maddening to be a fan of. So many bands sound alike, it's hard to understand why in the mind of some listeners one band "sucks" while another one that sounds just like that one is "awesome." I've heard about a lot of punk bands and quite frankly, usually they don't live up to the hype I've been given ahead of time.

Needless to say I pretty much ignored Mike for the last 5 months. But then I heard Hit or Miss on local radio, and I have to admit I was impressed. Mike was right. It was catchy, stick in your head punk, but there was something else there. Something that after one time you can't quite put your finger on, but after multiple listens it hits you like a ton of bricks. They are actually saying something in their lyrics.

OK, so they lose points because just about every song deals with love and relationships. But at the very least, they attack their songs with an energy and voracity that is sorely lacking among punk acts that have had any kind of success in the last ten years (Green Day the one very notable exception).

It also should be pointed out that this album is almost made up of two completely different halves, as if it's a double EP. The first half is very fast, very energetic pop punk. It's anthemic, it's loud, and it will have you shouting along. The second half is much more diverse (for better and for worse), and there are a couple of songs that are more straight up rock with a punk influence rather than the other way around.

The first of these is Eyesore, a midtempo rocker that has it's punk influences, but is basically a straight up rock song. It's more musically tight than lyrically. The rhythm section finally gets to show off their chops here, as they are basically forgotten in the first half of the record (Sincerely Me's bass intro excluded). Sucker is full of energy, and the guitars are intertwined perfectly.

Ok, so there are a couple of duds on here (Black and Blue and Boy Crazy). But the closing song Ballad for the Lost Romantics is pure punk bliss, both musically and lyrically.

While I've heard about this group for a while, this band actually lived up to the hype that other people bestowed on them to me. That is a very rare occurence. A New Found Glory surely is not the most original band, but they do what they do with a youthful energy and exuberance that you can't help singing along.


Recommended: Yes