No Use for a Name: The Feel Good Record of the Year

The fact that No Use for a Name isn’t famous, that they didn’t step into the spotlight Yellowcard was given a few years back, speaks to the fleeting and arbitrary nature of musical trends. With the exception of the dour More Betterness, the band has been churning out bright pop-punk for as long as some of their fellow scenesters have been alive. And in some cases, like Leche con Carne or Making Friends, they made some of the best pop-punk records of the ’90s. But these days they seem a bit deflated.

The Feel Good Record of the Year, like the two No Use records before it, manages to be catchy without a single hook or discernable melody. It relies on quick-strike power chords, Tony Sly’s sweet singing, and well-executed vocal harmonies to carry the album. And while they stumble on a few nice moments, like “I Want To Be Wrong” and the acoustic number “Sleeping Between Trucks”, for the most part the songs are weak, making the band’s naturally inviting sound irrelevant. In the end, The Feel Good Record of the Year makes you want to hear older, better No Use records. And in some spots, just like Yellowcard can, they make you want to hear anything else.