No Use For A Name

No Use For A Name: Making FriendsMaking Friends (1997)
Fat Wreck Chords

Reviewer Rating: 4

User Rating:

Contributed by: LunkLunk
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on August 9th 2002What's your name? Fuck you! That's my name. These words will forever mark the beginning of one of the best 'fat wreck' punk albums ever. Making Friends has it all, and it knows it. The songs are hard to differentiate, and the result seems like a chaotic mess. But there is method to the madness....

What's your name?
Fuck you! That's my name.
These words will forever mark the beginning of one of the best 'fat wreck' punk albums ever. Making Friends has it all, and it knows it. The songs are hard to differentiate, and the result seems like a chaotic mess. But there is method to the madness... Oh yes. Following this classic introduction, similar in spirit to the intro to Smash, if not slightly less subtle (and much more punk), come a series of punk gems. Leading up to 'On the Outside' in spot number four. This track is amazing, truly. It was the reason I bought the album. At the time, it was original to have a female singer do a duet on a NUFAN album. Sure, it's been done to death now, but it was a great novelty at the time. It holds the line well and breaks up the album. The songs afterward tend to blend into on another, making the second half of the CD less coherent, which can be a good thing. It's a real shame what's happened to NUFAN since this album. It's been downhill all the way. The descent into total pop-punk blandness happened after Making Friends was released. Although a few of the tracks here are a bit… Commercial, it's gems like 'Best Regards' which raise this release above the usual standard. The lyrics are quite good. Nothing like as good as bands like Propagandhi, you get the feeling the lyrics for a lot of tracks were written to fit the music, which is fine, just don't expect too much. On the other hand, tracks like 'On The Outside', 'A Postcard Would Be Nice' and 'Invincible' have great lyrics which actually do have a message. As much as I bag NUFANS later stuff, I actually think the lyrics on 'More Betterness' are better than those on 'Making Friends'. Still, the music on this is much better. It's less produced and has a more raw, angry feel. My favourite track on this CD is 'Fields of Athenry', which is not a NUFAN song at all. The hidden track is also great. It's on their live in a dive CD too. Apparently it's called 'Gene and Paul, I Hate You Most Of All…. Ace, You're The Ace… And Peter… You're The Cat.' Catchy. Pity I can't figure out what the lyrics for that one are. I wish they'd been included on the lyrics sheet. Damn!

Well, what else is there to say about it? It's short. Very short. But short=punk so I'm okay with it. The cover art is fucking ace. Very sick, in an extremely funny way. I never liked boy-scouts anyway. All in all, you get the feel from this album that NUFAN actually wanted to record it. This is the opposite of the feel I get from Hard Rock Bottom and More Betterness, which is that they recorded them because they had to.

Finally, it's the last time you'll get to hear Chris Shiflett play the electric gui-tar before totally selling out and joining the Foo Fighters.

If I'd been writing this review three years ago it would have scored a 9.5, but as my taste is more refined now, I think I have to be more realistic and give it an 8.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (March 19, 2006)

Great album. One of their best for sure, if not the best.

thatswack (January 7, 2005)

One of the best albums of all time.

Anonymous (April 25, 2004)

Joining the Foo Fighters isn't called selling out. I hate many sell out bands but did anyone call Green Day or Nirvana sell outs when they joined the majors. Foo Fighters are a great band.

Anonymous (June 13, 2003)

NUFAN's best work.

This CD brought me into punk, which brought me into indie rock, which brought me into my favorite band, Jets To Brazil.

Anyways, I owe a lot to this record. If I hadn't heard this, I'd probably be listening to Audioslave and Coldplay.

Strewtho (June 8, 2003)

Best No Use album, the cover of beth is my favourite song by them.

Anonymous (February 22, 2003)

Great album, start to finish.

Shame about their new stuff.

Lunk (September 11, 2002)

you're an idiot.

ambiotical_sophisticrat (September 1, 2002)

how does short=punk? short equals you paying just as much money for less music. therefore, the record company makes more money because they most likely paid for much less studio time. how is that punk?

Lunk (August 16, 2002)

bryne.
step one: get a dictionary.
step two: look up 'irony'.
step three: shove it up your dumb arse.
i cannot believe some of you. seriously.

Bryne (August 15, 2002)

Midgets are punk.

Bryne (August 15, 2002)

short=punk. Right. Disc one of my Ramones anthology is 79 minutes long. So by your logic, it's not punk. What an incredible piece of shit your review was.

Anonymous (August 14, 2002)

Chris Shifflet plays on More Betterness too.

Lunk (August 14, 2002)

Ha! oh you're good.

Anonymous (August 14, 2002)

the album gets a 10 your review get a negative ten thousand.

chris shieflet totally sold out by joining the foo fighters?

...moron

no use has turned into pop punk blandness?

...moron

making friends is an amazing album. as is their later work, and their earlier work (pre "the daily grind" excluded)

Lunk (August 13, 2002)

yes! someone gets it! i'm not a total comedic failure. oh sweet vindication!

Anonymous (August 13, 2002)

I never heard this album but I saw something in this review that made me laugh, so I thought I'd point it out.

"But short=punk"

Anonymous (August 11, 2002)

No Use for a Name rocks. And they can do social Commnetary as well as relationship lyrics. I would say stuff about the new compared to the old, but I only own More Betterness, Making Friends, and Leche Con Carne. I'll eventually get Hard Rock Bottom and maybe some of their other stuff as seeing No Use for a Name on the Warped Tour made me realize just how damn good they are. No Use for a Name fucking rocks!

Anonymous (August 11, 2002)

"NUFAN is a pretty good band, & this cd is a great cd. If this was on epitaph instead of fat wreck, warner bros would own 51% of it. Or at least that's what i heard"

you are stupid

Anonymous (August 11, 2002)

to be honest, w/ the exception of 'postcard' and 'on the outside' i thought this album was damn average. i guess i'm a dickless idiot, but i think more betterness is their best album. instead of that pathetic half assed social commentary tony tried in their old releases, he just stuck to songs about relationships, what he's good at. his songs about homeless people, or that fuckin shit track off leche about the waco texas dude,track 4 i believe, i mean cmon, how lame. i guess revenge and sitting duck were pretty good too, but i still think their newer poppier sound fits them better. tony tried to be a political/social songwriter, but shit, he's not. the same trend happened w/ lagwagon, joey went from writing about shit like mtv and stuff on duh to relationships by the 'hoss' era, and there ya go, theyre best album too. i guess the old lyrics were punker..whatever. if i want punk lyrics i'll listen to dillenger4.

Anonymous (August 10, 2002)

The cover for the cd is not PUNK.

Anonymous (August 10, 2002)

What the hell happened to this band.........in their New Red Archives days the singer screamed and yelled more than anything- now he sounds just like every other pop punk boy band. And that isn't a good thing, it's great to have a good singing voice, but this isn;t a good singing voice, it's the same as everyone else.

Anonymous (August 9, 2002)

the foo fighters fucking rock, ass...

Anonymous (August 9, 2002)

i think this is a good album

personally i like all the no use albums from leche con carne and up a whole lot

they all have their bright spots

Anonymous (August 9, 2002)

one of my favorite all time records. but FYI, chris schiflett played on more betterness! too. dave nassie filled in on the tour and subsequent records and is now a full time member. also, "beth" is the hidden track and "gene and paul..." is way after that as well. it closes out the record. they included it (according to an interview i read) b/c they didn't get permission before doing "beth" and they thought (somehow) "gene and paul" would show the guys in KISS it was meant to be a joke so they wouldn't sue. don't worry, i don't get it either...

Lunk (August 9, 2002)

to all you 'anonymous' critics: ever heard of irony?

Vien (August 9, 2002)

Hey the review was good. Anyone that says NUFAN's latest stuff is better that the old are cock smokers.

Anonymous (August 9, 2002)

good cd, horrible review. it seems as if a 13 year old wrote this review, as the reviewer seems more concerned with what is "punk" than what is good. when you refer to liking things for being "punk", you sound like the boob you probably are. i personally liked the newest nufan cds, and i would think that having such "refined tastes," an expert such as yourself would learn to have an open mind towards things that aren't quite as "punk" as you are. boob.

Anonymous (August 9, 2002)

"your tastes are more refined now" oh listen to you expert. You prove that you know nothing when you talk about selling out and all that shit that was tired and buried years ago. As for this record its fucking good. I like all NUFAN, there are some great songs on their new record, "Any Number Can Play" is the anthem of all anthems along with "International You Day" and "Nailed Shut"

emptycauses (August 9, 2002)

i like the foo fighters

Anonymous (August 9, 2002)

A best album from a band that hardly fails to deliver the goods. I can only hope they will put together another album as hard and quick as this one.

evildeadalive (August 9, 2002)

Oh yeah.... does anyone else hate On the Outside? That song got way too popular for the piece of crap it is.

evildeadalive (August 9, 2002)

I've got to admit the only NUFAN I really like is from their New Red Archives days... Always a great live band though, and of course there are other good songs, but I don't really like any of the albums...

Anonymous (August 9, 2002)

NUFAN is a pretty good band, & this cd is a great cd. If this was on epitaph instead of fat wreck, warner bros would own 51% of it. Or at least that's what i heard.

eyeball_kid (August 9, 2002)

Invin-ci-ble!! is one mean song. Going to see these guys live in a couple of weeks woohoooo

maverick (August 9, 2002)

No Use For A Name got me into punk rock with "Leche Con Carne."

They made me stay for the long haul with this album.

They made me almost leave with "More Betterness."

-Scott

Geetarchick (August 9, 2002)

I personally think Leche was the best, but whatever. I wouldn't say Making Friends was actually THAT far off of More Betterness because there are still some slower songs on Making Friends and his voice was beginning to progress to what is on More Betterness and Hard Rock Bottom. Daily Grind was good except for the fact that it's too short..

Lunk (August 9, 2002)

'Gene and Paul...' etc IS on the album, it's a hidden track at the end. On my copy anyway.

Anonymous (August 9, 2002)

you're stupid.

AtomicGarden (August 9, 2002)

This is a great album, I liked Leche Con Carne a little bit better though. But this is a great band...

punky (August 9, 2002)

'Gene and Paul, I Hate You Most Of All…. Ace, You’re The Ace… And Peter… You’re The Cat' is not on this album, (not on my copy of it anyway).
I like NUFAN, I even dig some of the slower songs on here too.

Anonymous (August 9, 2002)

The hidden track is an old KISS song called Beth, it's a lot better than the original and the soulmate/90210 theme near the end of it sounds great

Vien (August 9, 2002)

Making friends is definitely one of thier best albums, back then when they were good. Lately thier new pop sound is pretty lame. Anyone that wants to listen to no use should get this one and "leche con carne", those albums rock.