What’s In The Box? New Found Glory – Radiosurgery
on September 4th, 2011At the end of this month, New Found Glory serve up their latest offering, an album titled ‘Radiosurgery‘. The first single is out there and has fans licking their lips in anticipation. What can you expect when the album is released? We’re here to let you know, and I’m pleased to report it’s a cracker. Pre-orders for the album which is due Friday September 30th via Epitaph Records are available now, and come in a standard edition and deluxe edition with bonus tracks (that I’m now itching to hear after listening to the album). You’ll also get a bonus Epitaph sampler CD too. Get yourself sorted [Here]. See below for a rundown of the album.
TRACKLISTING
01. Radiosurgery
02. Anthem For The Unwanted
03. Drill It In My Brain
04. I’m Not The One
05. Ready, Aim, Fire!
06. Dumped
07. Summer Fling, Don’t Mean A Thing
08. Caught In The Act
09. Memories And Battle Scars
10. Trainwreck
11. Map Of Your Body
Over the years, we’ve pretty much seen and heard it all when it comes to this brand of pop-punk. At it’s peak, every second band was gunning to be the next big thing, locally that meant a tonne of spiky haired Aussie kids putting on horrible American accents to imitate their influences, enough to turn anyone off it for good, thankfully these days there’s only a few who missed the memo to stop putting it on, and other genres have taken up their time in the sun. Pop punk never went anywhere though, New Found Glory have always been near the top of the pile for bands playing this sound ever since they first emerged, slowly edging their way to the top via a strong touring ethic and constant releases while many others gave up and called it quits, or changed sound to jump on the next wagon these guys kept at it, and with each release continued to grow into the well oiled machine they are today.
The hard work has paid off, for ‘Radiosurgery’ is the album with which they take the crown. In my eyes anyway. Who are they taking the crown from? Well I guess even with many years of inactivity, Blink 182 have always been atop of the genre for many, and in their absence, no-one really reached the heights they had. Plenty had a crack but couldn’t quite nail it in my eyes. In recent years, and a new breed have emerged and have been making their mark, but it’s these experienced guys who’ve managed to land the bulls-eye. My personal tastes have since moved on from the days of listening to constant pop-punk, a lot of it these days goes straight by me, and while this album isn’t going to spark any kind of sudden return to that for myself, it serves as a reminder that there is still a bit of a flame kicking in there, and that it is still be done really really well by some. They did it with ‘Not Without A Fight’, and they’ve stepped it up another notch with ‘Radiosurgery’.
New Found Glory have amassed quite a collection of tracks now, no two albums have been the same, but the basis of their sound hasn’t changed. Signs of great songwriters there, still keeping it interesting all these years later in a genre that has been done to death a few times over. As the title track kicks off, you know it’s a New Found Glory record, and by the first time the chorus comes around the hook lands, and it doesn’t leave for the rest of the album either.
‘Anthem For The Unwanted‘ takes the crown for one of the most catchy choruses I’ve heard in ages, you won’t be forgetting it any time soon, “What did you say as I walked out the door, did you want me back, did you want me“. It’s a simple one, but ever so effective, and when it rolls around the second time, you are singing along. Definite single potential here.
‘Drill It In My Brain‘ is singalong central, expect hand claps galore if the band extends the intro when playing it live. It’s the kind of song that I would probably be really turned off by if other bands were doing it, it has potential to be far too over the top cheesy, but the quality songwriters these guys are, manage to keep it in check and manage to scrape all the cheese off the top and leave you with a solid track.
‘I’m Not The One‘ has a really good flow about it, constant build ups and a big chorus, even a dash of gang vocal, another thing NFG do to perfection, and not over the top. The back end of this track is where it shines.
‘Ready, Aim, Fire!‘ is a slightly more settled track, less up and down moments. Solid throughout it doesn’t have a ‘stand out point’, has all the usual hooks though. Closest thing to filler you’ll find on the album, it’d be a lead single for many other bands.
‘Dumped‘ Another steady type track, this one though over time has become a favourite, one of the strongest hooks, catchiest choruses and varied tracks on the album, you can’t pick what’s around the corner when listening for the first time, keeps things interesting.
‘Summer Fling, Don’t Mean A Thing‘ picks things right up again. This is the song from the album where you’ll be in a random place, and suddenly you’ll be singing the line “when you need a boy around you, just for the summer, don’t come knocking on my door”. You won’t get it out of your head until you listen to the song again. Definitely has the potential to be a single this one. Again, with any other band, this song would probably come across super cheesy, but NFG do it just right
‘Caught In The Act‘ is my favourite on the album, Beth from Best Coast chimes in with a guest vocal that put simply, just works. I’m certain this will be a single at some point, I can already picture a typical colourful NFG video clip for it too. This one just has all the right elements for a pop punk single, you’ll know it when you listen to it. It’s got me singing along in my best accent.. thankfully no-one is around to hear it. I’m sure it’s not pretty.
‘Memories And Battle Scars‘ is a nice fast number, bound to be a live favourite that’ll get the kids bouncing around like there’s no tomorrow. Probably has the most ‘grunt’ of all the songs on the album, sweet pick slide action too.
‘Trainwreck‘, another one that will work well live, one of those middle of the set type tracks, the guitar work is a highlight of this one, nothing that’ll blow your mind, but there’s a nice touch to it when given a close listen to, carries the song well. Singalong moments, check. Bounce around moments, check. Memorable chorus, check.
‘Map Of Your Body‘, a perfect closer. Energetic, upbeat and one last digging in of the hook before you end the battle and let it loose. An unexpected slowing down as the song comes to a close, but it works, and of course builds right back up into a blazing finish. ‘There’s a map of your body hanging over my head’, add that to the list of lines that won’t be leaving your head for a while.
There is an ongoing theme throughout the album, all the songs are relationship based, and do tend to follow a pattern throughout the album. That said, you don’t need to listen in full to ‘get it’, but the album is best listened to complete, as the songs do tend to make their mark when listened together. Upon first listen to the title track, it didn’t really stand out as anything special, but when listened to with the rest of the tracks, it has become a highlight for me. So don’t fret if the first single hasn’t hit you yet, it will soon.
As far as pop-punk records, I can’t see it being knocked off the perch as the best in the genre released this year. Big call I know with a few big titles still to come before the year is out, but like I said earlier, years of hard work is paying off for the band and this is their finest hour, the stars have aligned, and New Found Glory are shining. I just can’t see anything else coming close to it. Fans will not be disappointed with this one. As we begin to creep into the warmer months of the year, I can tell this one will be spun at many a spring / summer bbq – party, and a staple in the car for the drives to the beach.
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NEW FOUND GLORY – Radiosurgery
Instores Friday September 30th via Epitaph Records / Warner Music Australia
PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW WITH FREE POSTAGE
[CD] Standard Edition [Pre-Order Here] $19.99
[CD] Deluxe Edition w/ 4 bonus tracks [Pre-Order Here] $21.99
Both versions also come with bonus EPITAPH SAMPLER featuring Falling In Reverse, Letlive, I Set My Friends On Fire, Dangerous!, Parkway Drive, Bring Me The Horizon, Heartsounds, Set Your Goals, Veara, Alkaline Trio and Thursday.
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