Post Hardcore quintet The Used has been integral to the musical landscape in the new Millennium, as the sound the band helped to shape and advance has influenced numerous second-generation bands.
Guitarist Quinn Allman, bassist Jeph Howard and drummer Branden Steineckert assembled in Orem, Utah as Dumb Luck in 2001. The trio had music but needed a lyricist/vocalist. Fruitless auditions led Allman to ask acquaintance Bert McCracken if he’d be interested; he liked their music and wrote lyrics to a song that became “Maybe Memories,” the lead track on The Used’s debut album.
The band first adopted the name Used — inspired by friends who felt used when they concentrated their time on music — but changed to The Used when another band had trademarked its first choice. After a period of homelessness and struggle, The Used recorded Demos from the Basement and sent a copy to Goldfinger’s John Feldmann, who flew the group to L.A. — the band had never ventured out of Utah — to play label showcases, initially with no success. But offers eventually arrived and the quartet signed with Reprise late in 2001, less than a year after its formation.
The Used’s 2002 self-titled debut was an immediate sensation, with three charting singles and a gold certification. That was quickly followed by Maybe Memories, a CD/DVD compilation of live tracks, demos and unreleased material, and a second studio album, 2004’s In Love and Death, some of which was inspired by the tragic passing of McCracken’s ex-girlfriend who was carrying his baby. McCracken was also sporadically featured on The Osbournes around this time when he was Kelly Osbourne’s boyfriend.
In 2006, the band fired Steineckert and brought in Dan Whitesides (Good Charlotte drummer Dean Butterworth did the sessions for 2007’s Lies for the Liars; Whitesides recorded thereafter). The Used spent a year working on Artwork, which was released to a muted response. Feeling constrained by Reprise, the band formed its own label, Anger Music Group, and put out its next three releases — Vulnerable, The Ocean of the Sky and Imaginary Enemy — through a distribution deal with Hopeless.
Last year marked the amicable end of Allman’s tenure — he was replaced by Justin Shekoski — and this year saw the release of The Used’s second live release, Live & Acoustic at the Palace, perhaps a stopgap as the members work on new material.
From homeless to three million units sold worldwide in a decade and a half, with a lot of bruises along the way, The Used would tell you that dented dreams really do come true. The band’s two-night stand at Bogart’s is in honor of the 15th anniversary of its debut album release; The Used will play that album in full Tuesday, then play In Love and Death in its entirety on Sept. 7.
