Keep Them Confused

No Use For A Name are one of independent music's most dominant and everlasting forces; and nothing could solidify their firm grip on the underground more so than their newest record, 'Keep Them Confused'. It's their fifth full length with Fat Wreck Chords and it documents the band's sincere dedication to quality songwriting and energetic punk rock. For a decade NUFAN has been a mainstay of the genre, and the brilliant Keep Them Confused is a true breakthrough for the band. 2005.

This is the album that's going to make long-time fans scratch their chins: Is this the same group that made the angst-riddled, amplifier-blowing Leche Con Carne? Do the bittersweet lyrics of songs like "For Fiona" mean they're going emo? Are all the potential singles here going to make them bigger than Green Day? All legitimate concerns surrounding a band that has operated on the frontlines of the American punk scene since 1987. But, ultimately, there little to actually worry about. No Use For A Name hasn't lost touch with its primal side--"Bullets" and "Killing Time" are prime examples of its hardcore instinct at work--but maturity is clearly creeping in, with singer Tony Sly's voice inching towards Chris Martin territory and a handful of quality mid-tempo rock songs dominating an album that, despite the inevitable continental drift, sounds remarkably lucid from beginning to end. --Aidin Vaziri