That The Used count members of both Blink-182 and Linkin’ Park among their friends should be all you need to know to make up your own mind about them. But it’s not quite that simple. Their furious mix of nu-metal and skate punk may not be the most original of cocktails but it’s the way they blend the ingredients (with just enough contradiction) that keeps them from sliding into mediocrity.
For starters, there’s the bleak edginess of ‘Take It Away’ and the chorus of ‘Let It Bleed’, which hurtles from a tormented scream into a disturbed cackle. That darkness is contrasted by the carefully constructed ‘Yesterday’s Feelings’ and its delicate melodies and the balladic ‘Hard To Say’. The band also display an ability to borrow and re-invent old themes that sets them apart. The slightly jilted lyric, combined with the brilliantly skewed piano in ‘Cut Up Angels’ is a neat trick, while ‘Lunacy Fringe’ has an opening riff that sounds like a bastardised James Bond score, but transforms it into a summery, teenage-crush, love song.
There’s even a stab at full-on nu-metal. The aptly named ‘Sound Effects And Overdramatics’ could be mistaken for (present day) Slipknot. Unfortunately there’s plenty to dislike about In Love and Death too. Most of the tracks are lyrically naïve at best and pointless at worst. The slick style changes keep you interested but leave you feeling unsettled while the final track ‘I’m A Fake’ is just another angst-ridden tirade that’s neither compelling nor convincing.