NFG in Towanda news
Posted 1/1/2007 by Suretone
New Found Glory still finding its voice
Maturing punk rockers set to perform in Williamsville
BY ALAN SCULLEY
Night & Day
In the months leading up to the release of New Found Glory's new CD, "Coming Home", there was plenty of speculation that it would mark a musical departure for the band.
What hasn't gotten as much attention is that "Coming Home" is also a notable departure for the band on a lyrical level.
The group's previous CD, the 2004 release, "Catalyst", had hinted at a lyrical shift, as the band's primary lyricists, singer Jordan Pundik and guitarist Steve Klein, began to move away from writing the kind of light-hearted and sarcastic tales of teen romance that are typical for many young pop-punk bands.
"It's just on "Catalyst", we were kind of in a different place", Pundik said. "It was definitely a little more negative than 'Coming Home'. 'Coming Home' is really, I don't want to sound like a Christian rock band or something, but the new record is a little more uplifting and positive in a way".
Life indeed is changing for the guys in New Found Glory, who will be in town for a concert Friday at Club Infinity.
When the Florida band came together in 1997, the five members Pundik, Klein, guitarist Chad Gilbert, bassist Ian Grushka and original drummer Joe Moreno (replaced by Cyrus Bolooki) were still in their teens.
Today, various band members are married (including Pundik), engaged or have become fathers, and they have all grown into adulthood in front of fans, as they pursued a busy schedule of touring and recording over the course of four previous CDs and two EPs.
By "Catalyst", the band had begun to move away from the catchy pop-punk sound that had defined the earlier New Found Glory records. Along with the expected fast-paced tunes, the CD mixed in a few more measured rockers (such as "This Disaster" and "Doubt Full") and even a ballad, "I Don't Wanna Know".
Pundik said there was no premeditated plan to slow song tempos and step away from the punk element of earlier songs.
"It wasn't a conscious effort for us to say, 'OK, no punk songs on this record', because we did write some," he said, noting the 13 songs on "Coming Home" were chosen from a pool of about 30 tunes. "There were some fast songs. But (they) didn't really fit."
The group also decided to record the new CD with a different producer, after having worked with Neal Avron on the previous three records. The band didn't have to look far. Thom Panunzio, a veteran producer and A&R representative with New Found Glory's record label, signed on to co-produced "Coming Home" with the band.
Alan Sculley is a St. Louis-based freelance writer.
Taken from Towanda-new.com
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