These Utah post-hardcore rockers have put their bruised-and-scarred
image to good use over the past seven years. The opening song on their
fourth album is called “Blood on My Hands,” and throughout
Artwork frontman Bert McCracken leads the Used through a bunch
of songs about drugs, death and misery. They know the subject well:
McCracken’s pregnant girlfriend died of a drug overdose (which inspired
their 2004 album, In Love and Death), and the singer himself has
battled addiction. On Artwork, McCracken screams about living
with demons and soaking in pain over thundering rhythms and piercing
riffs. The Used manage to inject a few songs with a hook (“Born to
Quit”) or mood (“Sold My Soul”). But too much of Artwork sounds
calculated (the piano ballad “Kissing You Goodbye”) or instantly
forgettable (“Men Are All the Same”). Plus, all that downer talk gets
downright depressing after awhile.
— Michael Gallucci
This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2009.
