I’m not quite sure when my fondness for a band called The Used started. I seem to remember hearing about a hyped band, from an article in Alternative Press, where producer and Goldfinger founder John Feldman was gushing over this band that he helped get signed to a major label. The Used were comprised of lead singer Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Branden Steineckert and guitarist Quinn Allman, and their incredible band chemistry was able to capture early and inescapable magic on their self-titled debut. The first track that I ever heard from The Used was “A Box Full of Sharp Objects” from a Warped Tour compilation, and it became increasingly evident to me that this band demanded to be taken seriously. The lead single from their debut LP was an abrasive, wall of sound effort that captured a punk rock spirit paired with screamo vocals that many other bands would emulate later in our scene. The Used would go on to sell over a million copies in the United States and cement the band’s legacy as one of the emo/punk scene’s primary front-runners.