Halfway through the second track of Imaginary Enemy, I exclaimed, “They’ve finally done it- they’ve put
it all together on an album.” This was right around the bridge of “Cry,” when
vocalist Bert McCracken cuts through a series of electronic effects to offer a
guttural screech of “Nicer than that.” What follows is a punishing 25 seconds
of metal riffs provided by guitarist Quinn Allman and bassist Jeph Howard.
The opening track, ”Revolution,” and the track I spoke about
above, “Cry,” are just about everything I could possibly expect in an album
from The Used. They’re upbeat, incendiary emo anthems. If only the rest of the
album could be like that.
