Orem, UT · post-hardcore · emo

The Used

2 upcoming festivals ↓

Bert McCracken's scream-to-croon whiplash defined a corner of early-2000s post-hardcore and still detonates live — the chaos aged into craft.

The Used formed in Orem, Utah, in 2001, with Bert McCracken on vocals and Quinn Allman, Jeph Howard and Branden Steineckert completing the original line-up. Before any label deal, the four lived through stretches of poverty and homelessness, panhandling for food while writing songs together and recording an early demo in the closet of Steineckert's bedroom.

Producer John Feldmann heard the demo track "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" and flew the band to Los Angeles at his own expense to help them find a deal. Within a year of forming they signed to Reprise Records; around the same time a Boston band's prior claim on the name "Used" forced them to add "the" to their own.

Their self-titled debut, produced by Feldmann and released in 2002, and the 2004 follow-up In Love and Death established the band as a central act in early-2000s post-hardcore, driven by McCracken's shifts between raw screaming and clean, melodic singing and by lyrics dealing openly with addiction, grief and self-loathing.

Songs including "The Taste of Ink" and "All That I've Got" became staples of the era's rock radio and television programming, and Alternative Press later called the band "kings of the 2000s emo scene." Several of their albums went on to reach gold or platinum certification in multiple countries.

The band has continued releasing albums and touring across subsequent line-up changes, with Howard and McCracken remaining constant; releases have included Lies for the Liars (2007), Artwork (2009), Vulnerable (2012), Imaginary Enemy (2014), The Canyon (2017), Heartwork (2020) and Toxic Positivity (2023). Their live shows retain much of the volatility of the early records.

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post-hardcoreemo