Review Summary: Welcome back to greatness, The Used.
Who doesn’t love The Used? If you don’t, then don’t even bother reading the rest of this. It’s sad I was introduced to them with Lies for the Liars, but to be honest this EP should more than redeem them to their former glory.
The Used know how to write a song and Bert McCracken has a distinctive and enjoyable voice that slides easily between sing and cry-like scream. Their nu-punk sound is simple but oddly appealing, much like loved-by-all System of a Down. The best part is the fact that the songs don’t sound exactly like each other, which is the downfall of many of today’s bands.
On Shallow Believer, a digital-only EP, The Used improve immensely on their last attempt, Lies for the Liars. Lies was, simply put, a filler album with only three or four stand-outs. This EP is composed of B-sides, songs that didn’t even make it to the albums, and it’s so appallingly better than Lies, it makes you wonder what The Used were on when they chose tracks. It’s strange how this EP could have held its own as a full album while Lies for the Liars could barely stand by itself. Shallow Believer is ten tracks long, enough to be an album, and as the tracks on it are more killer, less filler, its more worthy than Lies to have become one.
Almost every song on Shallow Believer is great, only a sparse few are just sub-par. The sounds vary from fierce shrieking punk (Slit Your Own Throat, Choke Me) to soaring Hawthorne Heights-esque emo-punk (Sick Hearts, Into My Web). The choruses are catchy as can be and the lyrics are inventive and not carbon-copies of every other band in existence. There are some experimental ingredients tossed in, such as the trumpet bit in Back of Your Mouth or the atmospheric, floating-in-the-clouds effect on Sun Comes Up applied by light bells and misty vocals.
There isn’t much to criticize on Shallow Believer, but what there is is as follows. There is little true development of The Used’s sound, the biggest step being the cloudiness of the more melodic songs. Also, as with all of their albums, The Used can be compared to fellow emo/pop-punk outfit My Chemical Romance by those nit-picky enough to scrutinize that deeply. Despite the majority of great songs, the EP does have a few songs that truly didn’t deserve a slot on an album. Dark Days does sound quite like MCR, and Tunnel sounds like a church hymn. Truth be told, Tunnel isn’t a horrible song, it just doesn’t sound like The Used at all.
On the whole, Shallow Believer is an excellent follow-up of sorts to Lies for the Liars. It throws in some experimentation and unveils never-before-heard songs, and will leave whoever happens upon it waiting impatiently for the next full album. Bravo, 4.5.
Recommended: Back of Your Mouth, Slit Your Own Throat, Sick Hearts, Into My Web.
