No Use For A Name - The feel good record of the year

Fat Wreck Chords . 04/01/2008 . review written by Oliver

Fat Wreck Chord´s very own No Use For A Name have titled their 9´th studio release “The Feel Good Album Of the Year”. The album is to fallow up 2005´s “Keep em confused” and it got produced by Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore at the Blasting Room in Fort Collins. Bill and Jason, who worked with a plenty of bands alike MxPx, Propagandhi, A Wilhelm Scream, Slick Shoes – just to name a few here - worked with No Use on a very great record in song quality and production value. The four piece punk rock band from San José influence the skatepunk/hardcore since almost a decade now and they still continue their great work with their latest record – “The Feel Good Record Of The Year”. The latest album shows the bands full potential on 14 songs and so the tracks vary between ballards and mid tempo and fast songs in it´s very best manner. To me No Use For A Name is one of the very best bands from the melodic skatepunk genre. The varyness, the clever song writing, the amazing melodies and at least Tony Sly´s great voice still impress me very much. "The Feel Good Record Of The Year" in it´s full force contains a few outstanding tracks, like "Under The Garden" - a superfast tune with a breathtaking refrain. No Use defininetely has created it´s very own style, but sometimes even a long-established like them shows some further developements. Listen to their songs "Kill The Rich" and "Sleeping Between Trucks", which consist of accoustic guitars and bittersweet melodies and vocals. Especially these both songs are perfectly capable for warm and romantic summer nights. The rest of “The Feel Good Record Of The Year” has turned out very good, but there are not to many evolutionary steps to obey, alhough the band has inserted many different instruments, like trumpet, organ, strings and clarinet. In my opinion No Use has already released better CD´s, like "More Betterness" in 1999. To sum up the record, I have to state very clearly, that No Use is a very good Skatepunk/ Pop/ Rock band, that is able to write killer melodies with slamming basslines, super great hooks, super-fast drums. At least the band is fronted by a great singer, who has such a perfect voice. To me the next 10 releases can come! I´ll guess I stay a fan as long as the band exists. Their songs are just too great at least.

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Rank: 4 out of 5

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