No Fun At All

One word comes to mind every time I listen to No Fun At All, "melodic". Any I don't mean Yanni-John Tesh-Kenny G-James Taylor-melodic-crap-o-rama. Well, maybe not James Taylor, but that's another discussion. Sadly, No Fun At All were lost in the shuffle of the whole mid/late 90's Swede/Euro punk invasion. Mainly due to the overwhelming success of Millencolin. But No Fun At All surpass their fellow countrymen on so many levels. On their first 3 full-lengths, 'Vision', 'No Straight Angles' and 'Out of Bounds', their sound was rough, and confused. The albums held several incredible songs, but overall the sound and vocal styling didn't quite match.

When 'Big Knockover' was released, many were unsure of what sound would come forth. It had been over 3 years since their last album, and several changes had taken place in the line-up. However, 'Big Knockover' came to me as the best release of the year, and of the group's career.

The album kicks in with "Catch Me Running Around", which displays more of NFAA's older, harder styling, mixed with a much more crisp and melodic harmony. "Suicide Machine", spotlights amazing hooks, tempo-changes and most notably, lyrics, that contribute to the impressive sound of this album. Other tracks worth giving a shout-out to include "When the Time Comes", The Other Side", "Your Feeble Mind" (which many may remember from the soundtrack to 'The Show') and "Break My Back". Without question, 'Big Knockover' demonstrates incredible key qualities of not just a punk record, but any record. Perfect harmonies, riffs, breaks and break-neck paces, slowed at the drop of a note, unquestionably create one helluva album.

You may not like pop-punk, or Swede-punk, or whatever you like to call it. But these guys rock. I'd highly recommend this album to anyone.