Published on Feb 13, 2000
Hype! Hype! Who’s got the hype?
No Use for a Name (NUFAN), an otherwise unknown band, is getting
attention because the Foo Fighters recently tapped the band’s
guitarist, Chris Shiflett, to fill in the recently vacated slot by
Pat Smear. NUFAN have been around for 10 years (that’s a decade)
and have not made any sort of a national impact.
Raise your hand if you only heard about them after Foo Fighters
named Shiflett as Smear’s replacement.
Thought so.
But after listening to NUFAN’s recent CD,
More Betterness!, I wonder if Shiflett made the best career
move. Sure, after releasing 10 albums in 10 years and not achieving
a “household word” success level must be somewhat frustrating and
to join his favorite band, hell, I’d do it too.
But
More Betterness! is an excellent slab of Green Day-ish power
punk. Not all that adventuresome, but still done with integrity.
They actually fit better into a genre I’ve not been able to
pigeon-hole with a label. Bands like Ten Foot Pole and Mothermania
fit in the genre. It’s not really alt-rock, but it’s dirtier than
trad power pop punk like Green Day or Offspring.
The lyrics from “Life Size Mirror” encapsulate the band’s
appeal. Here you have lyrics that make you think, but you also have
music that is appealing. “She was done before the start/ always
mending broken hearts/ making others miserable not/ Knowing who
she’s hurting” push the band a million miles ahead of their
competitors.
Additionally, in the CD’s strongest track “Pride,” the band
proclaims, “You’re not going to find me digging through my family
tree/ Just to find out who I am/ I don’t need to know that I’m
linked to some murderer/ to live on the sam land.” The song
concludes with these lyrics “So do what you want and I’ll decide my
own history.”
NUFAN fit into the breed of newer bands that combine
street-smart emotional lyrics with music that rocks. The
musicianship is tight with no instrument overpowering the other in
skill. I look for this band to become a household name in the next
few years, especially if the magic in
More Betterness! is able to be captured in the future.