American band to release upcoming 11th studio album ahead of their 30th anniversary!
I am very excited about doing this review! I have been listening to New Found Glory from a young age, listening to tracks like ‘My Friends Over You’, ‘Better Off Dead’, and ‘Hit Or Miss’, and have been a fan ever since! I was very happy to be able to see them live for the first time last year at Slam Dunk Festival, which I reviewed.
New Found Glory formed in Coral Springs, Florida in 1997 and are approaching their landmark 30th anniversary. After 6 years since their last release, they are releasing their 11th studio album ‘Listen Up!’ and first release with Pure Noise Records on 20th February 2026 with 10 tracks. The album is a collection of songs about resilience and hope through hard times.
“We wanted to make something that really focused on how lucky we are,” guitarist Chad Gilbert explains, “We’ve all gone through serious stuff in our lives, and I think the lyrics on this record are more meaningful and purposeful than ever. It’s a positive outlet that hopefully keeps people going.”
The band played many gigs last year, including SUPERCHARGED: Worldwide in ‘25 with The Offspring and Jimmy Eat World, Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, and Good Things Festival in Australia. They had also wrapped up their UK headline tour with special guests Real Friends and Koyo in October 2025.
Meet New Found Glory:
Jordan Pundik – Lead vocals
Chad Gilbert – Guitarist and backing vocals
Ian Grushka – Bassist
Cyrus Bolooki – Drummer
“This is a fast more west coast punk style song,” shares guitarist Chad Gilbert of ‘Treat Yourself‘. “It’s about how people are very hard on themselves when it comes to mistakes and failure and how a lot of that is put on by false expectations of the world and people around you.”
“People seem to forget about the hard times they already have been through and conquered in their past, which should be a reminder that they are capable of getting through tough times. A reminder that we are our own worst enemies at times and we have to give ourselves a break. We gotta treat our own selves better.”
“This is the heaviest song on the record but it almost sounds like a party. At least that was the goal,” Chad continues, with reference to ‘Beer And Blood Stains‘. “It’s about an old venue we used to play when we first started. We’d play there pretty much every weekend. It was a lot of hardcore bands. Looking back now it was a dangerous place…so many fights and craziness – illegal things that wouldn’t fly now. This song is about how much fun we had, but not realizing how close to the edge we were.”
Now for what you’ve all been waiting for…the review! FUCKING WOW!! What can I say?! This whole album just screamed at me! So honest and relatable in so many different ways. You can easily sing along and dance to these tracks, and also do some air guitar and air drumming, which of course I did all of this throughout! So much emotion within the lyrics, you can feel it. I did cry a bit with how relatable most of the lyrics are. The band has a lot of passion, playing their hearts out and giving everything they got. Nonstop riffs, epic basslines, fast and hard-hitting drums, and such harmonising and melodic vocals. They all synchronise so well together, you can tell they know what they’re doing!
I loved every single track on the album, but 3 of them stood out for me on a personal level:
‘Treat Yourself’ has the lyrics “You’re braver than you think” and “Give yourself a break” which speak so much truth and importance! People need to look after themselves and stop beating themselves up about things, I’m guilty of this myself!
‘You Got This’ is so inspiring, singing about being lucky to have people in your life that fight beside you, enjoying the good times, and staying strong!
‘Laugh It Off’ speaks for itself. Sometimes you just need to let go of your mistakes and regrets, and just laugh it off. It doesn’t change what happened, but we all learn and need to forgive ourselves.
This whole album is one of the best and inspiring ones I’ve heard! I will be listening to it on repeat a lot! It’s honestly helped me so much. Music is the best medicine for anything in my opinion, and this band sure knows what they’re doing!
I’d also like to say how brave Chad Gilbert has been with his ongoing battle with cancer and continuing to fight! I wish him well and hope his treatment helps beat this horrible disease!
I very HIGHLY recommend checking this album out when it is released. You will not be disappointed!
‘Listen Up!’ is released this Friday – stream/pre-order the album HERE.
- Boom Roasted
- 100%
- Laugh It Off
- A Love Song
- Beer And Blood Stains
- Medicine
- Treat Yourself
- Dream Born Again
- You Got This
- Frankenstein’s Monster
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I’ve been going to gigs since I was 18 years old, and have loved them ever since. They are my second home. I enjoy discovering new bands, meeting punks of different ages, and learning more about the scene. I sing, play guitar, and learning the drums. Punk for life!
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