New Found Glory has come a long way. That's right, my friends, believe it or not: New Found Glory has not always been the whipping boy of the music elite or the corporate "sellouts" responsible for destroying punk rock. Once upon a time, they had their humble beginnings, not too unlike most other underground bands: full of poor quality demo tapes, label troubles, and financial dilemmas. But as fate would have it, the pop-punk trend picked up just as they were releasing their self-titled album, launching them into instant limelight and semi-superstardom. Unfortunately for them, a lot of other "punk" bands became popular at the same time, thus NFG was quickly lumped together with bands that did not have to work as hard to earn their popularity, like Good Charlotte and Sum 41. Now New Found Glory is back with Catalyst, the band's fourth full-length album and a bid to separate themselves from the rest of the over-crowded pop-punk scene.

As a whole, Catalyst incorporates all of the tried and true methods for creating pop-punk songs: non-specific lyrics about love, friendship, and growing up, and the anthemic choruses chock full of tight harmonies and nod-along breakdowns. But the album also shows more growth both musically and lyrically than ever before. The guitar riffs on Catalyst are more urgent and hint at the band's hardcore roots, while the lyrics tackle themes of betrayal and conflict. These elements make for a much more interesting listen than fourteen tracks of a pathetic romantic's exploits in love.

As for the songs, there are a few surprises. The first track ("Intro") kicks off the disc with a 37 second hardcore assault, featuring gang vocals yelling out: "You can't try to market this feeling/No we're not the same". Another surprise is "Failures Not Flattering", which uses a synth-pop flare and drums to create an eighties vibe and harks back to the sound of the Cars. There are also a fair amount of typical NFG songs, like their radio single, "All Downhill From Here" and the poppy yet energetic "Truth of my Youth". Songs like this are decent, but can get tiresome with repeated listens.

Now, I'll be the first to admit, I really did not want to like this album. It took me a few listens before I realized that some of the songs were actually not all that bad. But don't misunderstand me; this album is not without it's flaws. Exhibit A: The vocals. Oh man! If only Jordan Pundik had taken that clothespin off his nose while recording the vocal tracks. The nasally whine, especially on the slower songs, gets incredibly obnoxious at times and makes it so hard to want to keep listening.

Overall, Catalyst does a decent job at setting New Found Glory above the masses of other pop-punkers, hopping on the proverbial bandwagon. The music is interesting enough that you can get a few listens out of it before it becomes monotonous. And if you can get beyond the nasally vocals, you should be just fine. With this disc, the band proves that just because every mall punk and their mother sports New Found Glory t-shirts and just because their videos are sandwiched between Britney and Justin videos on MTV doesn't mean that they don't have some redeeming qualities. You'll be surprised what this album has to offer, if you give it a chance.