There was a time where I was actually a fan of New Found Glory. They didn't vie for the title of "favorite band" or anything, but I found their self-titled album to be enjoyable pop punk, back when I was still defending the genre that has since become an earsore for modern rock fans everywhere.

I eagerly awaited the 2002 release of Sticks and Stones, only to be severely disappointed. The album lacked hooks, a sin for an album from a band that is so dependent on how good their hooks are. It just sounded recycled and stale, and yet, somehow, it managed to enter the pop charts in the top 5, something not even the band themselves expected. From there, it was the Warped Tour, and then, a year ago, a co-headlining arena tour with Good Charlotte, one of the five worst bands to earn multiplatinum status over the last few years. I took as many pot shots at New Found Glory as anyone else. I guess that's what happens when you let me down as much as they did with Sticks and Stones.

And yet, for all my pot shots, I was willing to give them one more chance to win back my respect. That chance is their new album Catalyst, and unfortunately, I can't say this is doing much for them in terms of winning my favor back. That being said, it is a slight improvement over Sticks and Stones, if only for the fact that they actually sound interested this time around.

"We're not the same...we'll never get respect," whines lead vocalist Jordan Pudnik on the blistering Intro, which would have worked much better if the band had kept up the intense straight ahead punk stylings rather than letting the short song turn into a generic pop punk anthem halfway through. It's been obvious for a while now that this band craves respect, and yet, they seem to lack any real knowledge of how to get it. For one, Pudnik doesn't help here: his high pitched whine is fine for an album or so, but after a while, everything he sings sounds an awful lot like the songs that came before it. Jordan sounds like he had his balls chomped off by a dog; either that or his balls never dropped. And secondly, the band as a whole just isn't that exciting musically.

The band throws the first single, All Downhill From Here, as the first full length song, and if there's anything we've learned recently about albums who start with the lead single, it's that those albums many times suck. What doesn't suck is this song. Yes, it does, in places, sound like many a New Found Glory single before it. However, there are parts to this song that I really kind of dig. The driving pre-chorus is intense, and the bridge isn't bad, especially with the screams that lead out of it. That being said, the verses are performed as if from rote memory, and the chorus could just as easily be heard on any other pop punk album.

This Disaster works well as a microcosm of what's wrong with this album. The opening riff is sinister, I mean, that riff is truly bada*s, it's straight out of the AC/DC school of hard riffs, but then, here comes Jordan with his whine. Since Jordan cannot possibly compete vocally with the riff, the song devolves into a mix of power chords and basic drumbeats, ruining what was a very promising song when it started. In short, it becomes obvious that Jordan could very easily be the poster boy for the column I wrote about rock band lead singers with no range who have taken over radio stations as of late.

Thankfully, the upbeat driving mix of pop/punk and straight up rock found on songs like Truth of My Youth and At Least I'm Known For Something make up for some of the album's downfalls. The latter in particular rocks hard, edging the group closer to early 80s heavy metal than to Blink 182.

The band moves towards a more reflective tone musically for No News Is Good News. While not the greatest song in the world, it for once really does fit Jordan's voice, and the band does sound pretty tight behind him. It is a solid mix of melody and straight ahead driving rhythm. And with the obligatory ballads (Ending in Tragedy, which has some nice songwriting amongst its bankrupt musical backdrop, while I Don't Wanna Know has some nice acoustic guitar playing, though not much else working for it), the band is clearly looking for the respect that is supposed to come with such branching out of a group's sound.

Catalyst isn't a bad album; it certainly has much more life to it than Sticks and Stones did, but ultimately, after a few listens, I didn't find myself having any real desire to ever hear most of the songs on here ever again. I think this album could be the start of better things artistically for this band, but first, Jordan really has to take some voice lessons. Even teenagers can only take so much incessant whining before they get sick of you. This album won't garner NFG the respect they so desparately crave, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

2.5 stars, rounded down to 2.

More on New Found Glory:
New Found Glory
Sticks and Stones



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