New Found Glory Coming Home

Yes, they’re almost offensively poppy. But there was something endearing and highly listenable in their early efforts, from the immature but earnest Nothing Gold Can Stay to their more polished self-titled record, which featured some of the finest Blink 182-style, hyper-speed pop punk to come out that year. Since then, however, it’s been a steady decline for the band, as later releases lacked the speed that made songs like "Better Off Dead” such perfect guilty pleasures. On Coming Home, the band don’t even sound like they’re trying anymore, copping less from the Descendents and more from Mandy Moore. Nearly every one of these songs sounds ready for placement in the trailer of the next Hilary Duff movie, and while it’s likely the record will find an audience with 12-year olds looking for the soundtrack for their first crush, everyone else will just be bored. (Universal)

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