New Found Glory is a rarity in contemporary music; a band that attains iconic status without succumbing to compromise or internal fracturing.
The Florida quintet coalesced in 1997 when vocalist Jordan Pundik and guitarist Stephen Klein, high school pals at the time, paired up to write songs, with bassist Ian Grushka, drummer Joe Marino and guitarist Chad Gilbert fleshing out the lineup shortly thereafter. Marino provided the beat for NFG's debut EP, the apartment-recorded It's All About the Girls, and was replaced by Cyrus Bolooki, solidifying a lineup that has remained constant for the past decade and a half.
On the heels of its relentless road schedule, NFG’s EP and their debut full length, 1999's Nothing Gold Can Stay, sparked an underground buzz and attracted the interest of Drive-Thru Records, which bought the licensing rights to Nothing Gold for $5,000 and subsequently sold more than a quarter million copies of the album. In 2000, NFG released their soundtrack covers EP, From the Screen to Your Stereo, and their eponymous sophomore album, which spawned the Top 20 Modern Rock smash "Hit or Miss"; Kerrang later credited the album as being one of the touchstones of the Pop Punk movement and cited NFG and Blink-182 as the architects of the genre's frenetic, melodic sound.
In 2002, Sticks and Stones hit Billboard's Top 5 and led to NFG's headline slot on that summer's Warped Tour, but reviews citing the band as more Pop than Punk resulted in a decidedly more Metal and New Wave direction on 2004's Catalyst and a more mature sonic and lyrical approach on 2006's Coming Home.
After signing with Bridge Nine/Epitaph, NFG released 2009's Not Without a Fight and 2011's Radiosurgery, the catchiest and most infectiously fun set in their catalog. NFG has been recording dates on tour for a proposed live album and narrowly avoided tragedy in late March when Gilbert was severely shocked by an improperly grounded microphone.
It's not clear if tape will be running for New Found Glory's Thompson House show, but make some live-album noise anyway; Pop Punk's founding fathers wouldn't want it any other way.
NEW FOUND GLORY plays Thursday, May 23 at Thompson House in Newport with Cartel and Living with Lions. Buy tickets, check out performance times and get venue details here.
