Search - No Use for a Name :: Keep Them Confused

NUFAN fan? Eat this and shutup.

K. J. Byrne | Adelaide, SA, AUS | 03/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Holy crap! Look at all the comments... Sell out's? How can a band like No Use be sell out's? Seriously, these guys came to the bottom of the world to play in the Adelaide UniBar all night for 15 bucks a pop in an over-18 concert to skater punks and other randoms a couple of years ago, while Good Charlotte hired out a stadium down the road and played to a hoard of hysterical 13 year old girls and their parents who all paid 60 bucks to hear them spew crap for about 20 minutes. Who sees a difference? Hands?



I get the point, and agree, that their sound nowadays has more broad appeal, but is that a bad thing? And could it be that this was where they were going anyway, not what the bottom line lured them into?



For those who've journeyed with these guys since Leche or Daily Grind, hopefully you're not still living with your parents and trying to figure out how best to pop pimples. Hopefully you're not in the same place you were then, just like these guys aren't in the same place anymore. That's life: a roller-coaster ride. For me, the only reason No Use are still in my car glove box is because they've changed with me:

-When I was 15/16 - Feeding the Fire aptly summed up my pent-up, hormone-driven, I-wanna-get-the-hell-outta-this-place frame of mind.

-When I was 17 - More Betterness took my frustration and made it understandable. This album made me normal, and helped me to deal with high school crap. This album was also the first No Use album to have the flavour of girls in it. Appropriate for me; I was in my first real relationship.

-When I was 20 - Rock Bottom upped the ante on the girls again, actually a little too much I reckon (this one's their weakest offering, in my opinion). The beats were a little slower, and the topics were more mature. 9/11 had made its mark on Tony's lyrics, and he seemed to be able to explain the world around me succintly and poetically. His distain for organised religion, his anti-conservatism, his fight to make something of himself, all of these came through in this album that summed up my life.



Now I'm nearly out of uni, and their latest album is different again. More melodic and more literal again in the lyrics. I think this album shows everything from their past albums and more. Its got the fast-paced energy of yore (Bullets, Killing Time, etc), and the pollitical activism of Betterness and Rock Bottom (in Divine Let Down and Its Tragic among many). But its also got the girls (Fiona) and the self-deprication (Apparition).



Maturity is coming (slowly), for better or worse into the music of No Use. If you're growing up with them, you'll appreciate this offering. If you still want the angst there are legions of young punk rockers out there, but No Use have moved on. Deal with it! They aren't sell-outs, and they aren't pathetic sad sacks. They take the world and slice it up into 2-and-a-half minute postcards that give you a well thought out, alternative frame of reference. Its not boring or bland, but its not so completely angry either. I like the range of emotional expression on this album. I like the mix of logic and feeling. I like high production values. I like the melodic voice.



If you haven't heard it yet, you really are missing out. The best way to describe Keep Them Confused is that its where you would guess No Use would be if you watched them grow from Leche onwards. The only quirk might be that *tears of pride* Rory finally learned a couple of new beats! I really felt listening to Rock Bottom that he'd stagnated a bit, and every drumline was the same... Its a bit less punk, and a bit more emo, but they are still a long way from dressing in black and painting their faces (cf Green Day!). Its the same old No Use, with a splash of Something Corporate.



From me, I give Keep Them Confused 4 stars. Why? This is a damn good album, but I can't give an album I've only heard a few times the same rating I'd give More Betterness, the best CD on the planet. If I still love this CD in 6 years, it'll be a 5. That might be a bit arbitrary, but this album does seem to lack the gut-churningly haunting pain and beauty of More Betterness that I'm so thankful for.



In a sentence: This album absolutely stinks of awesome, and its exactly what I expected. You're almost definitely going to like it.."

Good stuff

C. Singh | california | 06/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"it's a change from the previous albums, i'll admit that. but with this cd, it's a natural progression. and it sounds good. you have to give this cd a chance. more than one listen will suffice. each time it gets better and you appreciate the music more. musical artists grow and progress and mature. they can't always stay the same. give this cd a chance and it'll grow on you."

Significant evolution?

hugues | Canada | 06/12/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well this is the follow-up to the excellent Hard-rock bottom. Which was just as good (if not better) than More betterness. It was already obvious form these two releases that the band decided to decelerate a bit and adopt a sound somewhat softer than their earliest releases. With this one the trend is clear. It doesn't sound like a punk hard-core band anymore. It is closer to pop. Yes, believe me! Yet, it is really easy to identify this as being a No Use album. The lyrics are very good, as usual. Probably much more political than on any other release of the band. It's less catchy than usual also. Much more uniform. However, I find it nice. But probably many fans will be disappointed because it's very slow and melodic (the pop way). Anyway, it's worth trying."