With a number of successful contemporary pop-punk bands taking their names from New Found Glory songs/lyrics, it’s nice to see New Found Glory here directing a nod towards one of the world’s first pop-punk bands, the Ramones.
Featuring six tracks, the ‘Mania’ EP kicks off with the incredibly infectious ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’, and right from the word go here you know that this EP is going to be more about the band paying their respects to one of punk’s finest rather than putting their own individual stamp on the music. Other than ‘Judy Is a Punk’ the track’s featured on this EP are all pretty much untouched from the Ramones’ versions, and this is therefore an EP that is predominantly targeted at people with a love for both New Found Glory and the Ramones.
In ‘Judy Is a Punk’, Jordan Pundik gives the track a bit of the New Found Glory treatment and it’s definitely the one track on the EP where it’s unmistakably a New Found Glory version of a Ramones song rather than just being a homage to the band. Just like the other five tracks on the EP, ‘Judy Is a Punk’ is well covered, and if you’re a fan of the New Found Glory sound then you should definitely be a fan of the track whether you’re familiar with the Ramones’ back catalogue or not. Don’t be put off if you’re a big fan of the Ramones though, this track hasn’t been tampered with entirely and still holds a lot of the same qualities that the original had.
‘I Wanna Be Sedated’, ‘Rockaway Beach’, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll High School’, ‘Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio?’, ‘Judy Is a Punk’, and ‘The KKK Took My Baby Away’ are the six tracks featured on this EP, six great songs from the Ramones, and six tracks that all receive satisfying cover versions from New Found Glory. The EP won’t blow you away or make you see any of these six songs in a whole new light, if you’re a fan of either of these bands then it’s certainly an EP to take a listen to though, and at just over 14 minutes long it won’t take you long to do so either.
The ‘Mania’ EP was released on blue vinyl for Record Store Day, had a limited run of 500 pink and black marbled 7” vinyls through Bridge Nine Records, and is also available digitally.
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
