There isn’t much I can really say about this band that hasn’t been said by pretty much everyone involved in music in one way or another. This band is great. They have passion. They have heart. They are great song writers. They are some of the nicest guys you’re going to meet in punk rock. They have a string of impeccable albums under their belts. They’ve done it all. As you can probably tell, I am a huge fan of NUFAN, after all I grew up listening to ‘Don’t Miss The Train, ‘Leche Con Carne’, and ‘Making Friends’ (3 albums which are must haves for any nu-fan).
They were one of the original Fat Wreck Chords bands, and with every album up to ‘Hard Rock Bottom’ you could see why. Then in 2002 something strange happened. NUFAN released a below average, polished record – HRB. For me, this was an awful listen, and the video for Dumb Reminders said it all, when the band jokes about the fans calling them sell-outs. I hate the term ‘sell-out’, if a band wants to make more money, I’m all for it, as long as they don’t change their music. Yeah bands mature together and music style does change, but I was surprised they had changed so much. You go on the website and Tony Sly looks a bit like Uncle Emo!
So when I heard NUFAN were releasing their new album in June, I was excited, yet anxious, as I didn’t want it to be another HRB. It isn’t… but it isn’t much better! I just can’t get excited about mediocre pop punk music where Sly’s vocals just drain away at you until you can’t bear to listen to him anymore. There are some good songs on this record, of course there are, but there aren’t any great songs. Songs like ‘Invincible’, ‘On the Outside’, and pretty much every song on the ‘Making Friends’ album – there are none of these on ‘Keep Them Confused’. The title of the new record says it all, it’s confused me how once such an amazing band has turned, dare I say it… average. I haven’t said this before, but I’d rather listen to Kelly Clarkson than this album.
Maybe if another band had released this CD, I might not have been so critical, but then again the more I listen to it the more I don’t like it. If you haven’t already bought and/or listened to this CD, don’t, you’ll just be disappointed. If you haven’t heard of NUFAN – shame on you – and want to, buy their pre-HRB merch. I apologise for the harsh review if when you are reading this you are completely disagreeing with what I’m saying, and if you find yourself being one of these people, I challenge you to find a song of this record that even comes close to that of any off of ‘Making Friends’.
 
To find out more about No Use For A Name - Click Here |
