(PRESALE - SHIPS OR PICKUP 9-18-26)

FUN POP PUNK REISSUED ON BLACK VINYL

BLACK VINYL

There isn't much difference between Sticks and Stones and New Found Glory's prior, self-titled MCA effort. It's highly accomplished, energetic punk-pop, the harmonies radiating youthful cheer, Jordan Pundik's lead vocals adding a tinge of youthful defiance and vulnerability. It's much more upbeat, for instance, than the opening lines of the opening cut, "Understatement," might portend: "I'm sick of smiling, and so is my jaw." Could it be that they're tiring of their usual upbeat demeanor and slyly slipping in a subversive message there? Not likely -- most of these are still upbeat if ambivalent songs about tense relationship growing pains and breakups, though sometimes colored with the wider territory of finding inner strength, dealing with loss, and coming out of rough experiences for the better. It's more engaging than exciting, and it sounds pretty radio-ready in the better sense of that term

A1        Understatement
A2        My Friends Over You
A3        Sonny
A4        Something I Call Personality
A5        Head On Collision
A6        It's Been A Summer
B1        Forget My Name
B2        Never Give Up
B3        The Great Houdini
B4        Singled Out
B5        Belated
B6        The Story So Far