Album Review: The Used - Imaginary Enemy

Over the course of their past five albums, we've seen The Used shift their balance of slightly pop-tinged punk and post-hardcore/emo closer to that of the former. Where in their debut album, In Love And Death (released in 2002), their pop edge was used to enhance the sensitivity that underlined their otherwise aggressive repertoire, their sixth record (released on the outfit's own record label) Imaginary Enemy uses this upbeat pop component in order to propel an uplifting and emotively charged positivity.

Snippets of the band's formative years make their way into each track, but it's the more buoyant pop injection of their 2012 release Vulnerable that makes up the record, particularly in a large portion of the lyrical structure (save for the faux-anarcho musings that exist in the opening track Revolution and A Song To Stifle Imperial Progression). While the title of El-Oh-Vee-Ee would be perfectly at home on In Love And Death, were it not for the two short interludes in which the typified pop-punk guitar sound morphs into a far rougher one, it could very well be dubbed as twee. There's a repetition and cheesiness that exists in this track and it consistently manifests itself throughout the album.

The Used have certainly made progress since the release of Vulnerable, but they've still got a long way to go before they strike the right balance between clean pop-punk and their grittier take on the genre.