Review Summary: It’s screamo at its most pristine and rawest.
Emo Classics Series:Episode III
I had a not-so-pleasant morning when I readied for this episode of the Emo classics review series, as I got into an argument with my father, and he gives me quite a cold shoulder with the rest of the day. I originally planned for a review of an album by a more pop-friendly punk-pop band, yet I was too upset to do so after the argument, so I decided to go for an album that is much aggressive and darker instead, in order to relieve myself from the distress. More specifically,
The Used’s 2001 self-titled debut, an album that was deemed by many as the landmark of the screamo and post-hardcore genre.
Before I begin, I would like to state that I knew the Used in a relatively old-school way—warm critical reviews, as I knew them when I read a review website praised the band’s 2017 effort The Canyon in their four-and-a-half out of five star review, and I started to pay attention to them, by reading articles from various presses about the band, as well as listening to their albums. Since then, not only did I increased my attention to them, but also my attention on the screamo genre as well. After the exploration, it is safe to say the Used had a strong impact in the Emo scene, with their debut album exhibited them at their pinnacle, with bloody and violent screams, galloping rhythms and unsettlingly sharp and fiery guitar attacks, shaped screamo or even the Emo genre what we recognised today, even though they did not have the massive commercial success like most of the significant peers such as
My Chemical Romance, to say the least.
I kick things start by listening the album’s opener “Maybe Memories”, a three-minute song straddle between melodic vulnerability and explosive metalcore-like aggression, with frontman Bert McCracken screamed lines about confronting his drug addiction with him almost fell into the fate of succumbing to it, (“As we trudge along through the mud, / and we tried to call it home, / but we weren't alright, not at all, / not for one, for one, for one second”) then sings about growing stronger against such monster when realised how much harm the monster done to him (“Never have been one to write it down. /Now I think I can. /I know I'm stronger now”), while not looking backwards about it (“Who's looking South❓/ Not me, I'm not looking back./I’m done denying the truth to anyone, /‘cause I'm alive” and the repeating “I’m not going to look back”) and ignoring it, despite it keeps bugging him.(“You showed me how./You seemed to find a hole,/but I just laughed and smiled, /begged and rolled my eyes, /even cried,/and denied the truth to you”) It’s a brutal track that reveals the singer’s inner pain in such simply direct yet beautiful fashion that serves as a perfect opening track to an album that let the adrenaline in your body pumped in, despite it falls into the mistake of repeating the verses.(Although the McCracken’s screams make the verses relatively undecipherable, making the redundant lyrics don’t make much matter)
After the superb opener, the band then moves to the anthem “Taste of Ink”. Thanks to the galloping rhythms and stripped chords, it gives the song a sing-along and blistering feel. However, beneath the headbang-worthy guitars and rhythms, there are bitter lyrics that lamented about poverty that pulls a person to their death (“The taste of ink is getting old, it's four o' clock in the f***ing morning. Each day gets more and more like the last day. /Still, I can see it coming /while I'm standing in the river drowning”) and hopes to get away from it by being famous and leaving the town(“This could be my chance to break out. /This could be my chance to say goodbye. /At last, it's finally over,/couldn't take this town much longer.“), as well as helping a dear beloved one to be freed from the darkness of poverty, (“Don't you think I'm pretty /when I'm standing top the bright-lit city❓ /And I'll take your hand and pick you up,/and keep you there so you can see it,/so long as you're alive and care,/I promise I will take you there./We'll drink and dance the night away.”) and savour every chance he had got in the chorus. It’s a true anthem for the poor that captures the hopelessness of struggling in the poverty and their desire to get famous in order to relieve themselves from the dark days, as well as one song that is worth swinging your neck for.
Then, the Used returns to the drug-related territory with “Bulimic”, with McCracken sings about his personal addictions to drugs, such as trying to reject it (“From the way that you acted to the way that I felt it, /it wasn't worth my time /and now it's sad cause all I missed, /wasn't that good to begin with”), yet still wasting time indulging such pleasure (“You call my name when I wake up to see things go your way. /I’m coughing up my time. /Each drag's a drop of blood, a grain. /A minute of my life /It's all I've got just to stay down”). However, in the end, he manages to kick it away and stepping to a brighter future (“I'm about to see a million things. /I thought I'd never seen before and /I’m about to do all of the things I've dreamed of/And I don't even miss you at all (F**k you!)”), all in the while chanting “Goodbye to you, goodbye to you, you’re taking up my time”. Unlike “Maybe Memories”, which is brutally vulnerable, “Bulimic” is a brash middle-finger-raising song to the addiction, as well as the fact that it can be served as a breakup song to a relationship that is worthless to spend the time on; The band then continues the theme of addiction in “Say Days Ago”, a reflection about being in the drugs, as McCracken sings about how strange the drugs that he snorted looks like and tastes like, as well as how does the drug make him ill. Lyrically, it is quite boring, as it seems to repeat the theme of the previous song and the lyrics are redundant, which makes the band seems to not have better lyrics, but it’s the heavy metal-like guitar progression and heavy bass riffs keeps the song so engaging, which continues the brilliant trend of this album.
The band showcases to a more vulnerable side in “Poetic Tragedy”. In the grunge-tingled song, McCracken sings about a travelling poet who was ignored by the surrounding people (“The cup is not half empty as pessimists say, /as far as he sees nothing's left in the cup. /A whole cup full of nothing for him to indulge, /since the voice of ambition has long since been shut up”) and fell into substance addiction (“So he voyages in circles and succeeds getting nowhere /and submits to the substance, that first got him there./There, there, there”) and madness (“In violent frustration he cries out to God or just no one”). At the end, he committed suicide.(“Then on that last day he breaks /and he stood tall, and he yelled, and he yelled, ’Why world, why world, hate you, hate you, bye world’”) It’s a achingly portrait that frames McCracken’s teenage years, as it really confronts the conformism of his family and neighbourhood that was dominated by the Mormon religion.
The band then continues in “Buried Myself Alive”. Many mainstream listeners may be driven away because of its title, which may lead to the thoughts of suicide. However, this more pop-friendly song actually talks about depression and isolation, in which McCracken discusses about others being apathetic (“You almost always pick the best times /to drop the worst lines. /You almost made me cry again this time. /another false alarm/red flashing lights/well, this time I'm not going to watch myself die. /I think I made it a game to play your game/and let myself cry”) and the person isolates himself (“I buried myself alive on the inside /so I could shut you out /and let you go away for a long time”) and being apathetic towards others (“I guess it's ok I puked the day away. /I guess it's better you trapped yourself in your own way. /And if you want me back, /you're gonna have to ask”). This song may be called “Buried Myself Alive”, but it has nothing to do with self-burial at all, it’s just a great song for you to go through the hard times.
However, the Used are at their most aggressive and nihilistic in “A Box Full of Sharp Objects”, in which McCracken sings about struggling to shine in the society (“It's our time to shine /Through the down /Glorified by what is ours”) and succumb to self-injury and drug addiction (“Today I fell, and felt better /Just knowing this matters /I just feel stronger /And sharper! /Found a box of sharp objects, what a beautiful thing!”), as well as confronting to the victorious one by giving him a song of glory with a scream. It is one of a more disturbing tracks in the album, as it contains relatively more screams and the more graphic subject matter, yet it also flourish the band’s trademark hardcore-punk aggression, which makes itself another one of more memorable tracks in the record.
After the aggressive cut, the band cools things down with the delicate yet powerful friendship ballad “Blue and Yellow”. In the song, McCracken celebrates the first moment the friend (more specifically, then-guitarist Quinn Allman) and him first encounter each other (“And it's all in how you mix the two /And it starts just where the light exists /It's a feeling that you cannot miss /It burns a hole /Through everyone that feels it”), while telling him to be no so forceful (“Well, you're never gonna find it /If you're looking for it /Won't come your way, yeah”) and lamenting about not spending time with him (“Should've done something, but I've done it enough /By the way your hands were shaking /Rather waste some time with you”). The song is a softer cut in the album that contains the best melodies in the album, all in the while shaping the devastation of a distancing friendship in exquisite fashion, celebrating the importance of a good friendship.
Following cuts are also generally interesting as well: the more ethereal string-backed “Greener With the Scenery” draws a toxic relationship that is stagnant (“Worst has got the best of you /I ask you and I know I need to change, change”) and unfair (“You took it back /You ripped my heart out of my, then you put it back /I’m pulling my hair /I let you just a million times /I love you even though it isn't fair”), all in the daily circulation (“Round we go, 'round again, circles /Play this game over again”); “Noise and Kisses” draws a lover’s desire to understand more (“Share with me /Cause I need it right now /Let me see your insides /Or write me off /Cause I'd rather starve now /If you won't open up”) in a rather morbid fashion, despite it (again) falls into the mistake of lyrical redundancy, with McCracken repeating the whole verses; “On My Own” is a song in more melancholy fashion with more strings, with McCracken discusses about feeling loneliness (“See all those people on the ground, wasting time /I try to hold it all inside, but just for tonight”) and empty inside (“The top of the world, sitting here wishing /the things I've become, that something is missing”), and his screams seem to make the strings and acoustic guitar much more haunting, making it a more memorable and better track in the album.
Then, the band came in with some surprises in “Pieces Mended”, as it contains the title track, an instrumental track (“Polly”) and the impressive “Choke Me”. The first track finds McCracken moans about being labeled and cut into pieces (“Being faced with what I'm faced with I feel like I can't rock /Like a rock hit my heart /Started to chain the day and exploded into pieces”) and hopeless (“I've got a feeling in my gut, now fills me with so much hope /Said f**k it, I'm fine, dine and dashed /The pianist peddled into morning, morning”). It may be a qualified cut, but with lack of pop hook and redundant lyrics, it sounds like the band make it through the cut in a hurry as a filler track. After the blistering and haunting instrumental “Polly”, the track “Choke Me” is one visceral track that really highlights the band’s nihilistic style, with McCracken screamed about rejecting a toxic relationship (“And I can turn to the box for some peace /Or a box for a piece /Or a box for a smoke /But they're all going to choke me” and “You're so crazy /Enough in a way that I'll probably say you destroyed me”), yet wanting more from it (“It's like a f***ing drug deal/ I’m sitting here waiting /I’m calling you back /And you won't call me back /And it's f***ed up /But at the same time it /Just made me want you even worse”), then he screamed to f**k his backside. It may be in a all-too-brief two minutes, and the structure is a bit fragmented, but the powerful instrumentals and screams make the track so engaging.
In conclusion, this album shows every bona fide of the screamo and even Emo should have, as it showcases pop accessibility, vulnerability, punk aggression, bitterness, nihilism and personal yet universal melodrama simultaneously. Sure, some may be scared straight away with the screaming vocals and the rather horrifying themes and lyrics, as well as serious listeners would be a bit disappointed, as the materials and lyrics can be redundant at times, as I do really wish that McCracken has other themes than drug addictions, since he used it as a main theme in several songs. However, if you do want to know why the Used is still here, despite they had some missteps in the 2010s, or even the third-wave Emo existed, this near-perfect album is perhaps the document that explains the reasons why.
Recommended Tracks:
Maybe Memories
Taste of Ink
Bulimic
Poetic Tragedy
Buried Myself Alive
A Box Full of Sharp Objects
Blue and Yellow
On My Own
Choke Me (Hidden Track)
