No Use for a Name

Hard Rock Bottom (Fat)
by Tim Den

Expect nothing less than pure pop bliss from No Use For A Name every time. No exceptions. Hard Rock Bottom sees guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Tony Sly further his adventures in Elliot Smith Land, hitchhiking down Orange County Melody Road with suitcases full of spine-tingling Marshall distortion in each hand. Though his output is starting to sound interchangeable on Hard Rock Bottom, it’s still leaps and bounds ahead of TRL kiddiemo failures.

“International You Day” is a skewer in the jaws of your childhood memories, “Pre-Medicated Murder” brandishes its string arrangements and prog-bass lines like an outlaw with his guns, and “This is a Rebel Song” (a Sinead O’Connor cover) trembles with anthemic grace. Yeah, okay, they’ve done yet another cover song with yet another guest vocal spot from Karina Denike, but why bitch when it feels so good? This is one band who I don’t mind getting the same warm, fuzzy, pop-punk from. Best of the best, they still are.
(PO Box 193690 San Francisco, CA 94119)