Lost In LineI have to admit, I was a huge No Use For A Name fan back in my college days in the mid/late 90’s. Unfortunately, I lost interest in them after the “More Betterness!” album. I did give the two albums that followed it a try and quickly drew disinterested in the band because I felt they began to churn out cookie-cutter renditions of the their own style. NUFAN were the best of the melodic punk rock bands that called Fat Wreck and Epitaph home about a decade ago, however, they became redundant. Wollongong, Australia’s Lost In Line are so damn similar to No Use For A Name you would probably swear I was listening to NUFAN’s new album had you not known better.
Lost In Line are extremely effective in playing this sub genre of punk music. The guitars are near perfect, drumming is efficient, flawless production and the melodic singing is nothing short of extraordinaire. Sadly, I feel LIL fall into the same crevice that No Use has fallen into. As good as they are with the tunes, they fail to craft any standout songs, just as NUFAN has failed to do for quite some time. They don’t have any “Justified Black Eye” or “On The Outside” tracks to their name. A song that can be an instant legend. I firmly believe that if you play any genre of music with melodic prefixed to it, you need to create truly memorable songs. The kind that won’t leave your head for hours or even days.
Don’t get me wrong; this CD is very good, just not special. I know Lost In Line aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but my best memories from bands like No Use and Pulley, to name just two, are from the songs that stick in your ear. I highly recommend this album if you still buy No Use CDs or other mid 90’s melodic punk rock from the sub genres heyday. If you those bands don’t do it for you anymore or never did, then you may want to skip past this release.
Rating: 2.5/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: “Restored”, “AA-11” & “Faces In The Dark”
Synopsis: No Use For A Name Jr is a more fitting name for this group, but that’s not a totally horrible thing. They’re good at their sound, just not memorable enough to be considered great. For fans of melodic punk rock, I recommend you keep an eye on this band. Remember, this is a debut full-length. I get the feeling they will eventually make me eat my words and create an album to be remembered.