30 Club
The guys from Blink-182 announced last month they were going on an “indefinite hiatus,” leaving the pop-punk throne untended. There are plenty of good-enough groups like it (Good Charlotte, Simple Plan) littering pop music’s landscape, hoping to be picked up and turned into MTV’s next teenage-riot darlings, but New Found Glory is up next to take the crown.
The Coral Spring, Fla., quintet’s current Fuse TV-sponsored club tour shows the group is halfway there. Here are other things singer Jordan Pundik and the band can check on their requirement list to become punk-pop’s next poster boys:
A string of annoying yet irresistible radio hits? Got it. (“All Downhill From Here” from Catalyst in 2004 and “My Friends Over You” from 2002’s Sticks and Stones). At least five years of touring the country in a crammed van? Check. Several appearances on TRL? Yup. Co-hosting TRL post-Carson Daly? Sí. Skateboarder-friendly videos? Roger that.
It’s a battle of the bands to be Blink-182’s successor, and we’re putting our money on New Found Glory. On March 23, the band will be at Washington’s 9:30 Club to show why it deserves to rule the pop-punk world. Reggie and the Full Effect & Eisley will open. Tickets are $17.50; doors are at 6:30 p.m. Call (202) 393-0930 for details.
