New Found Glory
New Found Glory is an American punk rock band formed in Coral Springs, Florida, in 1997. The band currently consists of Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka, Chad Gilbert, and Cyrus Bolooki. Longtime rhythm guitarist and lyricist Steve Klein left the band in late 2013. During their lengthy recording career, the band have released twelve studio albums, one live album, two EPs, and four cover albums.
After forming in 1997, New Found Glory released their debut studio album Nothing Gold Can Stay in 1999. The band then released their self-titled major label debut in 2000, with the album's song "Hit or Miss" peaking at number 15 the Alternative Songs chart. In 2002, the band became mainstream with their album Sticks and Stones and the album's hit "My Friends Over You". The group's popularity continued with their 2004 album Catalyst, of which the video for "All Downhill From Here" was nominated for a VMA for Breakthrough Video of the Year. Led by single "It's Not Your Fault", the mid-tempo and critically acclaimed Coming Home followed in 2006. The release showcased a temporary move to an alternative rock style instead of their usual pop punk sound. The quintet returned to their energetic roots with the release of Not Without a Fight in 2009. They have since released four more albums; Radiosurgery in 2011, Resurrection in 2014, Makes Me Sick in 2017, and their tenth studio album Forever + Ever x Infinity in 2020.
Emerging as part of the second wave of pop punk in the late 1990s, music critics consider them a key pioneer of the genre. Often labelled the "godfathers of pop punk", AllMusic notes how their "raucous, fast-paced anthems carried them through the decades", whilst crediting them for "practically serving alongside the work of Blink-182 as the blueprint to the entire genre for the early 2000s." Rock Sound have championed their "classic sugar sweet sound", which combines "pop-punk and hardcore in one neat package." Alternative Press have praised the group for their "innovative and entirely irresistible fusion of punk melodies and hardcore breakdowns." As such, the band is considered highly influential in the development of the subgenre easycore.
History
Formation and debut releases (1997–1999)
The origins of New Found Glory date back to 1997 when Jordan Pundik and Ian Grushka played together in the bands Inner City Kids and Flip 60. After disbanding Flip 60, they recruited Stephen Klein, who Pundik met at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and had previously played with him in the band Fallview. The three began to jam together. Practicing in Grushka's garage, they later invited Joe "Taco Joe" Marino to play drums. Shortly thereafter, Chad Gilbert, former vocalist of Shai Hulud, joined to complete the quintet.Pundik later stated the band name was created while he and Klein were working at Red Lobster together; "We came up with A New Found Glory, we wrote it on a napkin. I think we pulled some of it from "A Newfound Interest in Massachusetts" by the Get Up Kids".
The band recorded their debut EP, It's All About the Girls in a friend's apartment, and the EP was distributed by local independent label Fiddler Records. Soon after, Marino was replaced by current drummer Cyrus Bolooki after two rehearsal sessions. The band went on to tour up and down the East Coast and quickly sold out the entire pressing of the EP. The band's underground success soon caught the attention of Eulogy Recordings and the quintet subsequently signed shortly afterwards in order to increase distribution of their music.
Following the success of their EP, the band recorded their debut full-length album, Nothing Gold Can Stay, initially selling one-page insert copies at their shows supporting MxPx. Richard Reines, co-founder of Drive-Thru Records had also noted their devout following and held talks with the band. Drive-Thru subsequently signed the five-piece and paid Eulogy $5,000 to license Nothing Gold Can Stay, which went on to sell more than 300,000 copies.
Rise in popularity and stardom (2000–2005)
The five-piece signed their first proper record deal with Drive-Thru Records, and released an EP of cover songs from film soundtracks entitled From the Screen to Your Stereo in 2000. Drive-Thru's relationship with MCA Records ensured that the smaller label's more popular bands would be picked up by the major. Later that year, debut single "Hit or Miss" peaked at No. 15 on the US Modern Rock Chart, which helped propel the band to a mainstream audience. Subsequently, their self-titled second album and major label debut New Found Glory reached number one on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, and spent 21 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. In a Kerrang! magazine article years later, they referred to the album as the band's Essential Purchase. They wrote, "marking one of the biggest and quickest improvements in alternative music, the major label debut hurled them to the forefront of the punk scene barely 12 months after its predecessor. Packed with infectious melodies and sing-along anthems, it would see them jostling with the likes of Blink-182 for the genre's crown." The album also marked the official debut of the band's new moniker, which dropped the indefinite article "A" from their original name due to some fans struggling to find the band's records in stores. The album was certified gold by the RIAA. In 2001 the band performed at EdgeFest Calgary.Between 2002 and 2004, the band experienced the height of their popularity with headline slots on the Warped Tour with Blink-182 and a supporting tour with Green Day. Third album Sticks and Stones was released on June 11, 2002, and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. The record spawned two popular singles; "My Friends Over You" and "Head on Collision". Following the success of the album, the band headlined the 2002 Warped Tour and later saw the album certified gold by the RIAA.
The lead single for their fourth album, "All Downhill from Here" reached number eleven in the Rock Chart before Catalyst was released. The album peaked at a career-high number three on the Billboard 200, selling 146,000 copies in its first week. The heavier style of the record, which included some metal and new wave influences, was due to the comparisons that magazines and other media outlets would make between New Found Glory and other popular bands. Chad Gilbert stated: "Well, when Sticks and Stones came out and we were doing that Honda Civic Tour, we were getting compared to bands like Good Charlotte and Simple Plan we were angry with that. At that point, we were getting compared to more pop bands and we aren't a pop band." The band promoted the album with a supporting tour with Green Day during the fall of 2004 on the American Idiot Tour. The song "This Disaster" was featured in EA Sports' Madden NFL 2005, and "At Least I'm Known for Something" was featured in EA's Burnout 3: Takedown. This became the band's third record to be certified gold by the RIAA.
Maturity into later albums (2006–2009)
s for the next album were tracked with long-term friend and studio engineer Paul Miner, before the band worked with Thom Panunzio having moved into a house together in Malibu, California called the Morning View Mansion to write and record. Gilbert took into the studio a book containing over 40 riff ideas that were written during the previous tour. Unlike their previous releases, Gilbert and Pundik also worked on lyrics alongside primary lyricist Steve Klein for the first time. The band had decided against working with Neal Avron, who had produced the band's three previous albums, as they wanted to try something different. Their fifth album titled Coming Home was released on September 19, 2006, with first single, "It's Not Your Fault" in July 2006. The release proved popular with many critics giving the album positive reviews. It was acclaimed for its "matured and nuanced songwriting", and was generally recognised as being the band's most mature work.From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II, the band's follow-up to From the Screen to Your Stereo - a full-length album, containing 11 songs plus one bonus track for the Japanese edition and iTunes - was released on September 18, 2007, via Drive-Thru Records. The first and only single from the album was "Kiss Me", which would become the band's last charting single. The music video can be viewed on MySpace. In March 2008, a compilation named Hits was released. Two previously unreleased songs, "Situations" and "Constant Static", are also featured on the album. This was their last release on Drive-Thru/Geffen before signing with independent labels, Bridge Nine Records and Epitaph Records. In April 2008, the band released a new EP Tip of the Iceberg on CD, 7-inch and through digital music outlets on Bridge 9 Records containing both new material that paid homage to their melodic hardcore influences. The CD also included an extra disc from the band's side project, the International Superheroes of Hardcore, named Takin' It Ova!.
Their seventh studio album, Not Without a Fight, was released on March 10, 2009, and was produced by Mark Hoppus. It was released through the band's new label, Epitaph Records. Hoppus has said that during recording, they had felt like a different band altogether. The lead single from the album was called "Listen to Your Friends". The music video for the song was filmed in Los Angeles. The single was released December 23, 2008, in the US & a day earlier in the UK, both via iTunes & AmazonMP3. Following the album's release, the quintet set out on the "Not Without a Fight Tour" with support from Set Your Goals, Bayside and Shai Hulud.
The video for second single "Don't Let Her Pull You Down" premiered on October 15, and was released on October 20 via limited orange and sky blue vinyl prints. On October 17 the band played a free show for around 120 fans packed into the studio where the band played a setlist made up of fan requests.