The Used Brings Toxic Positivity To 2023

Eleven-track in your face release from The Used sure makes for a self-care summer – drops this Friday May 19th.

Photos by Staffer: David Zeck

I’ll be honest. I foolishly packed away The Used shortly after high school was over. It wasn’t anything personal, I was just into different music.

Fast forward to several years later and I get the opportunity to stream their new album early and wow, I see just how foolish I was to ever stop listening.

“The Worst I’ve Ever Been” starts the album off with a fucking bang. That teeter-totter creepy type sound that I love about music by The Used is still present as ever and Bert’s throaty scream that follows the opening guitar part grabs me and sucks me right in.

“Don’t ask me for no fucking favors, I’m not anybody’s goddamn savior”

WOW. Relatable, aggressive. I’m obsessed. This is the perfect “can’t pour from an empty cup” pissed-off type of song.

Bert’s perfect sweet whine is music to my ears, literally. His vocals are a flawless fusion of singing and heavy metal screaming. The bass line intertwines like a soul finding its mate with the guitar on this track while the drums marry the two. Like I said, I’m obsessed.

The beginning of track 4, “Pinky Swear,” immediately has me feeling nostalgic, very The Taste of Ink type jams. The guitar riffs and composition of the song are very reminiscent of that album for me with a little bit of a hostile twist. Right up my alley because that album has a special place in my heart.

Track 5 is called “Headspace” and it’s sure to be a headbanger amongst fans. The beginning of this song builds before the dam breaks and the chorus begins, which is really beautiful. Bert hits some higher notes and the song as a whole is so soothing to me. I found myself tapping my feet along the most to this one.

Track 7, “Dopamine,” flaunts a playful guitar in the beginning, and reminds me a bit of a creepy circus tune. “Dopamine” is about being sick over someone, they’re your dopamine. It’s relatable and catchy. “Just like a sickness that doesn’t need fixing at all.” I feel everyone can relate to that feeling of being so addicted to someone, this one is a total bop.

Track 9, “Top of the World” is a little pop-ish but I’m not mad at it. For me, it’s a little foreign sounding coming from The Used but it’s not a negative thing. It’s refreshing to hear a piece from them that sounds so different from their other music that I’m used to. This track might take time to grow on me, but a seed has definitely been planted.

Track 10, “House Of Sand,” starts out with acoustic guitar. YES, I’ve been waiting for a stripped-down, soft song on this album, and the guys delivered. “It’s like I live in a house of sand where nothing ever seems to last. It’s crashing down around me, it’s crashing down around me.” The lyrics are both sweet and sorrowful, but the music is upbeat enough to keep me from getting into my feelings too much.

The album ends with “Giving Up,” the title is a bit deceptive because Bert sings that he’s not giving up on himself. This song is a real pick-me-up. If you’ve been in a slump and need an uplifting jam to get you out of YOUR jam, this is the one. It’s definitely a song that makes you wanna dance, too. I can totally envision how this song would go down live – the crowd closing their eyes and letting go of all their troubles as they shimmy and jump along to this. Single is out TODAY!

My favorite track is no doubt “The Worst I’ve Ever Been,” the chorus really struck me and it’s the song on this album that I keep going back to listen to.

In my opinion, this album is everything I used to love about The Used, but turned up and fine-tuned to temper the low points in my life that I’ve experienced as an adult. While The Taste of Ink will forever remain one of my favorite albums, I feel it’s more relatable for a younger, more teenage angsty crowd and I love it for that. Toxic Positivity serenades the dark parts of my adult brain – deep depression, anxiety, as well as learning to prioritize myself and self-care.

This album is heavy.

It’s from the soul, fresh and raw. It’s the perfect synthesis of self-care and fuck you wrapped up into one banger of a release. The Used did not miss with this one. My little emo heart is marching to the beat of Toxic Positivity. This one gets an A+ from me, I can’t wait to bump this all summer long.

Pre-save Toxic Positivity at https://theused.ffm.to/toxicpositivity Out this Friday (via ℗ 2023 Big Noise Music Group, LLC)