It’s only when you realize that New Found Glory have been releasing albums for 21 YEARS that you realize you are getting old; it’s certainly not when you hear frontman Jordan Pundik’s ageless vocals come blazing out of the gates on their TENTH studio album “Forever + Ever x Infinity.” The guy sounds exactly the same all these years later! Its almost as if time stood still. The bands sound hasn’t even remotely evolved either; I guess that’s up to you to decide if that’s a good thing.
For me, it absolutely is. Album opener “Shook by Your Shaved Head” explodes out of the gates with a riff reminiscent of the classic 2002 “Understatement,” and sends you on a glorious 15-song journey to a bygone era when pop-punk and emo ruled the alt airwaves.
Despite a title that rivals The Vandals for wackiness, “Double Chin For The Win” is exactly how pop-punk used to sound, complete with comedic lyrics to rival The Vandals in that respect too: “When we link arms you’re a 10 I’m a 3 / Hope you never can afford lasik surgery.”
And that’s not even the best song title on the record either; obviously, that award must go to “Scarier Than Jason Vorhees At A Campfire.” It all wraps up with “Slipping Away,” a song so emo you wonder if Dashboard Confessional was pulling the strings behind the mixing desk.
To quote the press release, because I couldn’t put it any better myself, “with Forever + Ever x Infinity, the band created an album that is 100% New Found Glory, a brand and mantra 20+ years in the making, riffs and sing-a-longs to last a lifetime.”
Amen to that. Your soundtrack to summer 2020 just arrived.
Simon Williams
