Happy Wednesday! Today we are going to discuss another one of the 2000s most influential hardcore-turned-pop-punk bands, New Found Glory, known for their iconic breakdowns in their songs and their heavy influence on the genre, easy core.
A Brief History of New Found Glory
New Found Glory was founded in 1997 in Coral Gables, Florida by Red Lobster coworkers and bandmates Jordan Pundik and Stephen Klein, who dreamed of starting a new band after theirs had broken up. They came up with the original name, “A New Found Glory,” later known as “New Found Glory,” after a song by a band they liked called the Get Up Kids. They recruited Ian Grushka as the bassist for their band and invited “Taco Joe” Marino to play drums. Finally, they recruited Chad Gilbert to play lead guitar for the band, who was the former vocalist of metalcore band Shai Hulud, and the quintet was completed.
The band went on to record their first E.P., All About the Girls, that same year and replaced Joe the drummer with their current drummer, Cyrus Bolooki, as they wanted a different sound. After pulling together some money from their fast food jobs, they went on to release their debut full-length record, Nothing Gold Can Stay, in 1999 with Eulogy Recordings. After this record developed somewhat of a cult following and made waves in the underground metal scene, Dave Saporta, founder of the band Cobra Starship, insisted that new label at the time, Drive Thru Records, listen to NGCS, and Drive Thru proceeded to buy the album license from Eulogy as well as release the E.P., From the Screen To Your Stereo, in 2000.
The widespread success of From The Screen to Your Stereo caused the band to be signed to major label MCA and release their self-titled album that same year, which quickly charted on the Billboard. Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus heard the album and later became a mentor to the band, bringing them on tour with Blink and even connecting them with their manager, Rick DeVoe.
Later, the band released the album Sticks and Stones in 2002 at the height of their popularity, with performances on MTV’s music mecca “Total Request Live” (TRL), causing the album to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 with hit lead single, “My Friends Over You,” a pop-punk classic today.
The band went on to release several more studio albums with various labels until most recently in 2023, even amidst Stephen Klein’s departure from the band in 2014. These include:
Catalyst May 2004 (the band’s highest charting album to date)
Coming Home September 2006
Not Without a Fight March 2009
Radiosurgery October 2011
Resurrection October 2014
Makes Me Sick April 2017
Forever+EverxInfinity June 2020
December’s Here December 2021
Make the Most of It January 2023
Though the band’s albums went on to explore different sounds and at times were divisive amongst NFG’s fanbase, New Found Glory went on to cement themselves as an icon amongst metalheads and pop-punkers alike and have been continuing to steal the hearts of fans of these genres for years to come.
New Found Glory in Pop Culture
New Found Glory became a staple in pop-punk not only through their appearances on “TRL” and even Chad’s appearance on “MTV Cribs,” but also by influencing the sound of Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree album and even influencing the band name for All Time Low! The band has even put a pop-punk spin on Disney, releasing a cover of “Part of Your World” from the film “A Little Mermaid” in August 2024. The band continues to stay relevant in the scene, even releasing a new single, “100%,” on April 30th of this year. Check out my review of the song here!
New Found Glory’s “Part of Your World’ cover video
Whether you’ve been a fan of New Found Glory for 20+ years or are just hearing of them now, their music transcends the metal scene on both the east and west coasts of the US and will uplift you no matter what mood you’re in…take a look at their discography here!
Till next time!
XOXO,
Meagan