Post-Nothing Rock: New Found Glory- Sticks and Stones (2002)

Why I Like It:

Over the years I have learned the humility (or would like to think I have) to admit when I've had unjustified, ill conceived, and sometimes downright wrong opinions about a band. New Found Glory is one of those bands. Why the hate bro? One may ask. This has been a head scratcher for me too, to be honest, and I've dug deep to come up with some reasoning. Maybe.

Growing up in the 90s and 2000s it was different how people consumed music and had opinions of genres. Basically you had to pick a band, plant your undying loyalty to them, and brush some other (equally as good) ones to the side. Like I was pro Backstreet Boys, because I had a young teenage girl crush on Nick Carter, and NSYNC was inferior. And of course my friends were in the same camp.

Usually this call to join a team would start out because of a rivalry between bands. Some may even say a heated rivalry?- I had to get this TV show in here someplace because shoutout to Canadian gay hockey and Wolf Parade getting their due time!

Some popular rivalry examples:

These rivalries were either started from the bands themselves and/or the media made them up and I was absolutely a victim to it. I have an answer to each band above, of who I listened to over the other.

Not to say these band vs band choosings aren't happening today, but it felt like something you had to do- to showcase who you are as a person. I think today people are more accepting of all bands and genres, which is refreshing! Also, there was this thing called monoculture back then, which meant everyone was listening to the same bands on the radio, watching the same MTV music videos, and reading the same Rolling Stones interviews. In essence everyone was plugged into the same music at the same time and there was more collective awareness of the 'rivalries'.

So, what was this New Found Glory rivalry I'm thinking of? I will admit this likely completely made up in my head, but it was Blink 182 vs New Found Glory. I was team Blink and Glory were out, not interested. Although I did like the song "My Friends Over You", when I heard it on a Big Shiny Tunes 7 CD. That was it. No good reason besides Blink showed up first and I imprinted on them. To further prove this was all in my head, Mark Hoppus actually got New Found Glory hooked up with their manager Rick DeVoe.

Ok let's actually talk about New Found Glory now. One of the pioneers of pop-punk, they have a legacy that echoes in today's pop-punk music. Some examples being that All Time Low got their name from a New Found Glory song lyric and The Story So Far is from one of their song titles. Oh ya, and both of these examples are from the album Sticks and Stones.

Sticks and Stones is an album I spin every time spring makes its appearance. After a stint of seasonal depression and the soul sucking grey backdrop of winter, this album coalesces with bright blue skies, green vegetation overtaking the colour palette of the landscape and lovingly pushing those dark thoughts out. It's the fast paced songs, ear catchy hooks, and sing along choruses that stick in your head as you inhale the fresh cut grass of suburban lawns.

The album, in my opinion, has no skips. It's pure pop-punk distilled into 12 perfect tracks...and one hidden one that scares the shit out of you if you're not paying attention. It's got your typical swooning over a girl tropes and girl troubles...tropes (ya sorry the vocabulary is rudimentary here). Just typical dudes singing about what their troubles are in their twenties, without the real life struggles of adult sh*t yet - you don't get to say shit until you have back pain and a multi day hangover from a few beers. However, as a middle aged lady with all the real life things to think about, I still connect to the music. Lyrics like "And it feel like I'm at all-time low" or "I'm sick of smiling and so is my jaw" can be relatable in many scenarios.

Enough talking about the album, just play the dang thing already if you've read this far! You've already made the time commitment by this point 😁

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