New Found Glory - Catalyst (2004)
The album begins with a song appropriately titled "Intro" and to throw you off from their usual tricks, it's a short hardcore punk tune in which Jordan Pundik states "It's more than a t-shirt, it's more than a tattoo, it's more than a phase, this is how I was raised!" which would've been my anthem when I was fourteen and was completely immersed in the nasty and elitist world of punk rock. Surprisingly, for an album that has a second track titled "All Downhill From Here", it doesn't actually descend in quality! "Truth of my Youth" is my fucking FAVORITE New Found Glory song and it's AWESOME!! That song is just PACKED with hooks, catchy riffs, and (sadly) relatable lyrics! It's honestly probably in my top ten favorite pop-punk songs in general, and if you don't like it, what's wrong with you?! After that track, one thing is obvious, and that's that the band has matured a little bit with the calm-ish "I Don't Wanna Know" being about having sex with the person you love for the first time, and it's just an adorable little tune in which more emphasis is put on the emotions than lust. Reminds me of my first time.
I feel the band MUST have been massively influenced by blink-182's untitled record just the year before, because this album has some darker and more experimental tracks than their previous albums, and even uses the acoustic guitar a fair bit, even if it's just in the background, it adds a nice little finishing touch to some of the tracks on this album. This all being said, perhaps it wears its influences a little bit too proudly on its shoulder, because "Over the Head, Below the Knees" sounds like a blink-182 b-side from said album, with its dark and vulnerable musical atmosphere! Tell me that you CAN'T hear Tom DeLonge sing that shit!! Anyway, it leads quite nicely into "Ending in Tragedy", a mildly-somber tune with a violin/cello (do you think I know the fucking difference?!) featured in the verses before the rest of the instruments erupt for the chorus. Also of note is that "At Least I'm Known For Something" has some of that METALCORE CHUGGA CHUGGA that the band would make fun of other bands for doing just a few years later! What the fuck, man?!
This all being said, while it's very much a good album and there are really no bad songs to be found on it (unless you get the bonus tracks and get the acoustic tune "Whiskey Rose", can't fuck with that one at all), not many of the songs seem to meet the quality standard of "Sticks & Stones", which is a classic for the genre. The songs on here just generally don't have the same level of substance on here to the point where I can see myself actively returning to this album five years from now, whereas I still bump "Sticks and Stones" because that shit is great! Ah well, they can't all be golden, right? Plenty of songs here to like, not too many to love.
7/10
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