The Used

Utah’s The Used has stylistically volleyed all over the place in an effort to differentiate itself from the rest of the post-hardcore pack—surging to the top of the “screamo” scene with 2004’s In Love And Death before trying on a bit of My Chemical Romance-borrowed bombast for 2007’s Lies For The Liars, and turning in an appropriately anguished cover of Talking Heads’ “Burning Down The House.” For 2009’s Artwork, the band briefly flirted with forging its own “gross pop” genre. A deliberately messy conflagration of noise and sing-along hooks, reportedly inspired by Weezer’sPinkerton, The Used merely integrated that record’s jarring dynamics and streamlined songcraft into its own unmistakably restless self-flagellation. A new album, Vulnerable, was released earlier this year.

Updated 05/22/2012