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New Found Glory are almost a band lost in time. After their breakthrough in 2000, along with a whole host of skater punk pop bands, it’d be easy to think they’d then dropped off the radar entirely. Instead, they’ve kept going and now appear to be attracting an audience still at primary school when their first album emerged as well as those who’ve been following the band since their first appearance.
Despite their longevity and the rather staggering realisation that they’ve released five albums and two EPs, the music hasn’t altered that much. Short bursts of energy, the odd more hardcore touch being offset by a reliance on poppy melodies. Certainly, the opening is fairly explosive, the band launching into former single ‘All Downhill From Here’ and charging about the stage.
The problem is that their style wears itself out quickly. Despite drawing material from every album, most songs simply meld into each other and the band don’t appear to have progressed in any major way. The likes of the 100 miles an hour ‘Better Off Dead’ or ‘Hit Or Miss’ may inspire frantic moshing but they’re easily assimilated from one tedious template.
In fairness, the band tries hard. They’re always in motion, flying about and clearly feeding off the reception from the crowd, bassist Ian Grushka in particular offering entertainment from his slightly bug eyed staring alone. Some of their newer material does sound a tad different, ‘Too Good To Be’ has a more sedate feel to it while ‘It’s Not Your Fault’ has an irritatingly likeable hook fuelling it along.
However there’s another problem that affects New Found Glory and that’s vocalist Jordan Pundik’s voice. Rather whiney at the best of times, here it often slips into being as enjoyable to listen to as fingers being slowly racked down a blackboard and it’s a relief when he’s drowned out by the din the band are creating.
Credit to the band for surviving so long, but after this gig it remains a mystery why their humdrum songs continue to have such appeal.
