This band just won’t sit down. 13 years on and six albums later, they still seem to be going strong, and it feels like these guys might just be around forever.

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK

When they first burst onto the scene, The Used came out blazing, sticking two middle fingers up to the modern rock’n’roll scene, and creating songs charged with evoking opinions. That fire still hasn’t been lost, as the band comes out with a new and more challenging album that takes The Used another step forward in their quest to help shape our world to be a better place. It’s shown in tracks like ‘Force Without Violence’, and even in their slower songs which always manage to still pack a punch (‘Evolution’).

Sure, maybe their sound is arguably less punk rock then in their previous years, with songs like ‘Cry’ sure to prove more radio-friendly, but this is simply a sign of a band growing and changing over time. After all, for these guys, it is more about the lyrics and messages expressed in their songs than what genre they fit into. And there does seem to be a mix of the old and the new here.

Here’s to another 13 fighting years of The Used.

4/5 Stars

Imaginary Enemy is out through Hopeless Records.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine