Pixie Dust Music

3 April 2012 | 6:24 am | Staff Writer

More New Found Glory More New Found Glory

In 1999 a young Floridian five-piece took the burgeoning pop/punk scene by storm with their debut full length Nothing Gold Can Stay, a collection of upbeat shamelessly poppy songs about girls and teenage concerns. Contrary to the pessimistic message embedded in the album's title, New Found Glory have stayed around and with their latest album Radiosurgery, their seventh, they returned to their formative years for inspiration. An extensive tour in 2010, just before the writing process for Radiosurgery began, to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the release of their second, self-titled album, no doubt helped fuel the band's desire to return to the days of old.

“For this record more than any other record I think we wanted to go back to the roots of our band, you know?” says guitarist and lyricist Steve Klein. “We wanted to re-realise what brought us in to this; the music. We wanted to go back and listen to old Green Day records and old Rancid and The Ramones and stuff like that.

“Before the scene was saturated with pop/punk bands there were a bunch of good bands that were putting out really good music that kind of shaped the way this genre went. So we wanted to go back to that day – that time – and listen to those records and have them inspire us to write new songs.”

With cameos as their mosh-friendly alter egos, International Superheroes Of Hardcore, their day job band soon developed a crunchier, riff-driven sound that has been reassessed as they looked back for this record.

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“I feel like a lot of other records – [2004's] Catalyst especially and even Not Without A Fight [2009] – were very guitar riff orientated, very riff driven. Every record that we do is different and with this record we wanted to make it more vocal driven and have the melodies of the vocals be the catchy part. Still have the catchy guitars and stuff, but make it more subtle and pay more attention to making the songs more anthemic,” Klein reveals.

The return to the earlier, some would say more innocent, days of pop/punk by the band proved a success, with Radiosurgery delivering 11 tracks of non-stop hook-laden saccharine sweet pop/punk and, like their debut, once again cemented their place in the top echelons of the genre, which was – and remains – in the midst of a global revival.

“I think there are definitely are bands that we feel like are trying to keep pop/punk alive, you know?” says Klein, before recalling the exhaustive two month tour of the states the band completed in 2011. “That was the whole purpose of our Pop Punk's Not Dead Tour that we did in the States with The Wonder Years and Man Overboard and just tonnes of bands that we feel like are the new generation of pop/punk bands that are keeping it alive and are actually doing it for the right reasons and not just because it's a fad and because it's the cool thing to do. Because that's not why we got into it. We got into it because we love the music and we have fun and we want to be energetic live.

“There's a good, nice resurgence of pop/punk but I think the real bands are the bands that stay around. And the bands that are in it for the right reasons are the bands that stay around and the people who are in it for whatever, they die out after a little while,” Klein says.

On New Found Glory's successful longevity, Klein is at his most open – equal parts baffled, humbled and just plain stoked. “We've been lucky, I feel like every record that we do, every tour that we do we gain new fans and younger fans and I don't know how we do it,” Klein says, with genuine disbelief in his voice, the most earnest he has sounded all interview, before breaking into self-deprecating laughter. “We put pixie dust in our music or something; I don't know. But it's really awesome and we're very grateful that all the generations we've been through – and we've been through a lot of generations of kids and fans have come and gone and people have grown up with our band and people are becoming fans now. So it's cool and it's a good feeling that our music has transcended and we're still relevant after all this time and still – I feel – we still have more to give, which is exciting.”

Just as the band returned to their roots musically, lyrically Radiosurgery – like those early albums – is thematically driven by relationships, familial and personal experiences. “Every record for us is kind of like a diary, it captures a time period,” explains Klein, who scribes the group's collective experience into the lyrics. “With this record Ian [Grushka, bass] just went through a really bad divorce and obviously if one of your best friends is going through a tough time, it's going to affect you and effect the way you write. He came and stayed with me for a couple of weeks after it happened and just talking to him and going through things with him can affect you.

“Every record we do is about either things that we go through or things our friends go through,” Klein continues, “I think that's why people are so drawn to our band, because our music is so relatable. Our songs are real, you know? So with this record especially – and Ian going through a bad break up – it affected this record. I wouldn't say all the songs are about that in particular, but every record that we do is about things that we all go through collectively.”

As the genre they've dominated for so long once again gathers new disciples, the question must be asked of Klein, is pop/punk a dirty word? “To us pop/punk was never a dirty word. People always called us a pop/punk band and we were like, 'Oh, okay, cool.' I think when fads come and go, people ride the wave and they're the people who say those things. We never really pay attention; we just write the music that we enjoy without caring what anybody says or worrying about anybody judging. It got us this far! We're trying to be a band, we're trying to make relevant music and put on the best live show we can.”

The band will be doing just that shortly, premiering live Radiosurgery tracks for Australian audiences and from what Klein says, we should be seeing them again sooner rather than later. “This record is still kind of new for us. We only just did our first tour of the States for it, so we've done one tour in the States and one tour in England and we're about to do our first tour off this record in Australia, so we're going to try and go to everywhere twice or three times for the next year or so.”