Hallelujah!: New Found Glory excited about direction of new record
Posted 1/1/2007 by Suretone
ALAN SCULLEY - SPECIAL TO The Daily Herald
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.
Some of that talk grew from interviews guitarist Chad Gilbert did last fall in which he hinted at new musical directions.
"Coming Home" does in fact offer significant musical contrasts to New Found Glory's previous three CDs.
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.
"Catalyst" marked a move toward slightly more mature and serious material about relationships and life issues. That lyrical direction is even more pronounced on "Coming Home" -- but with a significant difference, according to Pundik.
"It's just 'Catalyst,' we were kind of in a different place," he said in a recent phone interview. "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.
"This record definitely has more of a theme," Pundik said. "It's about taking responsibility in relationships and being away from people, and people you love and stuff."
Life indeed is changing for the guys in New Found Glory -- which is appearing Wednesday at In the Venue in Salt Lake City.
When the south Florida band came together in 1997, the five band members -- Pundik, Gilbert, Klein, bassist Ian Grushka and original drummer Joe Moreno (replaced after the first CD 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 slightly 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 and even a ballad.
"Coming Home," though, pretty much leaves the punk element behind. The songs still rock -- just note the wallop delivered by "Hold My Hand" or "Connected." The group's firmly established talent for writing strong melodies is also intact throughout the CD.
But the band pulls back on the tempos of virtually all of the songs, and at times evokes a combination of modern rock crossed with the mainstream rock of artists like Tom Petty, Cheap Trick and even Bon Jovi. 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-produce "Coming Home" with the band.
"We love Neal, and Neal's amazing and he's one of our really close friends," Pundik said. "But after three records with him, after writing those records and a lot of other bands started to come out and get kind of popular, we kind of wanted to try something different."
The choice of Panunzio was greeted with surprise and a bit of confusion by fans because Panunzio is known largely for studio work with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Petty, Grand Funk Railroad and the Jeff Healey Band. These credits, along with news that Petty's keyboard player, Benmont Tench, was playing on tracks for "Coming Home," left fans wondering just what type of CD New Found Glory was making.
The band itself, Pundik said, got over any doubts about choosing Panunzio when they saw his passion for the project.
"One of the songs that really got him to say. 'OK, I want to do this' was that song 'On My Mind.' That song really got him," Pundik said. "He was like, 'Man, I'll put my career on the line for this song.' I don't know, Thom's done everything from like the Go-Go's to Bob Dylan, so he's very well rounded in music. And he's our A&R guy, so he has to know what's going on (in the music scene) right now."
New Found Glory
When: Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Where: In The Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City<br><br>Tickets: $18.50 advance, $22 day of, available at Smith's Tix locations (800-888-TIXX, www.smithstix.com)
Info: (801) 359-3219, www.inthevenue.com
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