The Used


The Used thrives on friction. You can hear it on the band's combustible self-titled debut. You can hear it on the tension-filled follow-up, In Love And Death. It's what makes a Used album or performance such an exhilarating ride. Throughout In Love And Death, you can make out a faint ticking sound, but you never know until the very last second whether it's attached to an alarm clock or a time bomb.

Both options are just as likely. The Orem, Utah-based quartet is made up of four distinct personalities, each with individual musical tastes that don't always overlap and strong ideals that are often diametrically opposed. The chemistry might have combusted a lesser band before it even started, but the equally passionate friendships and shared hardships that make up The Used have held it together.

"There was pretty much some drama going on during the whole making of the new album," drummer Branden Steineckert says with a laugh. "There's no such thing as a perfect working environment, and I think the music is better because it didn't come easy."

And what friction the band doesn't create within its own ranks, the members can easily find in the world surrounding them. To an outsider, the church-based culture of Orem might seem like the perfect incubator for a new rock revolution. But ask singer Bert McCracken what he's rebelling against, and in time-honored tradition he'll respond, "whattaya got?"

"I've rebelled against all types of conformity throughout my life, not just Utah's conservative culture," he says. "I rebelled against the Mormon Church by going to other churches. I rebelled against my parents by not eating meat. I rebelled against my friends and myself by doing drugs. And I rebelled against everything that was holding me down by playing music with these guys."

"That was my way of rebelling, too," says guitarist Quinn Allman. "Believing in something real and powerful like music. God is just a concept, but music is tangible."

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  • UlterMe3 on Sat Aug 15th, 2009 said...

    I KNOE I LUV THERE STYLE♥
    MY FAV SONG IS (PRETTY AKWARD HANDSOME)

  • jesse1111 on Mon Oct 20th, 2008 said...

    These guys freaking rock.
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