After announcing their upcoming tenth studio album Toxic Positivity earlier this week, The Used are keeping fans on their toes and have released a surprise new single ‘People Are Vomit’.
This is the second single from the forthcoming album, following the first ‘Fuck You’ was released in 2022.
Listen to the new track below.
We’re back for another week! We have another roundup of ten music videos which have been recently released and they’re always some of my favourites! They’re not all within the same genre and they’re all different in some way or another but that means that there’s a little something for everyone here but enough talk, let’s get down to things.
First up is The Used in a video dedicated to the frontline workers who are tirelessly working through the Covid-19 pandemic. The band have compiled the submissions in the track ‘The Lighthouse (Feat. Mark Hoppus).
On the track, Bert McCracken says:
“Doubt can be an avalanche”. “It can cascade out and infect everything it touches. Inspiration is also infectious. The original chorus lyric was ‘I can’t be your lighthouse’ until I was reminded by my six-year-old daughter that I can be and I am. It helps to remember that we all have the capability to inspire someone in our own way. Please enjoy our song The Lighthouse as much as we do.”
“I’ve been friends with The Used for a long time and was stoked to be invited into the studio with them,” adds Mark. “The Lighthouse is one of those songs that came together very quickly, with everybody excitedly throwing ideas around. What emerged from the session is a track we’re all very proud of, and I hope everyone likes it as much as we do.”
Next up are The UMA. Dan Jones (Guitar) has had the following to say on the track:
“Wake Up is a song for any moment. Whether you’re sad, happy, angry, confused or just having a moment, it lifts and separates you from everything that’s going on around you. Lyrically, the songs just one big emotional juxtaposition and we’ve tried to capture that throughout the video.”
We’re moving into the realm of Pirate metal for this video in Alestorm. ‘Fannybaws’ is the latest cut off their upcoming release, ‘Curse Of The Crystal Coconut’
On the release of the video, the band have said:
“Oh wow! The history of Scotland is full of tales of mighty pirates, and none were as feared as the legendary Phann’aig Bhall (otherwise known as “Fannybaws” in Lowland Scots). I hope we’ve done his epic seafaring legacy justice with this song, and we hope you all enjoy singing along with it. Meet yer dad and smell yer maw!”
Moving off to Indianapolis for the up and comers The Wise Man’s Fear for their upcoming release, ‘Valley Of Kings’.
Tyler Eads (Vocals) has said:
“‘What Went Wrong’ sheds light on the inner dialogue of struggling with self-doubt and anxiety. Relationships become damaged and coping with temporary distractions ends up making it more difficult to find true solace. It’s a reflection on the different paths we take in life that pull us away from the people we love.”
Hardcore kings Stray From The Path have a brand new video which they’ve recently debuted in the form of ‘Beneath The Surface’, which is lifted from their 2019 LP, ‘Internal Atomics’.
In addition to the release, the video was directed by the band’s bassist, Anthony Altamura!
Changing things to go with he many genre’s we’re covering this week, we have the Rap Metal masters in Body Count with guest vocals from Riley Gale of Power Trip.
The entire music video was shot entirely by each of the members of the band on their phones in quarantine and edited by Itchy House Films’ Jay Rodriguez.
Next, we have the band Dream Wife. In addition to announcing a 2021 UK tour, the trio have released their follow up to the singles, ‘Sports!’ and ‘Hasta La Vista’ in the form of ‘So When You Gonna…’.
On the release, they’ve said:
“It’s a dare, an invitation, a challenge. It’s about communicating your desires, wholehearted consent and the point where talking is no longer enough. It promotes body autonomy and self-empowerment through grabbing the moment. The breakdown details the rules of attraction in a play by play ‘commentator’ style, inspired by Meat Loaf’s ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’.
“For the video for we worked with our favourite elf prince Aidan Zamiri who filmed around a free sweaty, sexy, gig we did for ours fans back in January – shot as a first person POV from the inside of a mouth. Performing live is the beating heart of this band and we miss it, so please take this video as a little love letter to the rock show.”
Jetting off to New Zealand now for Ulcerate. They have a video which was directed by Graphic Designer Dehn Sora’. This is off their recently released record, ‘Stare Into Death And Be Still’ which is out now via Debemur Morti Productions’.
Second to last on this weeks music video list we have the multi-platinum Danish Hard Rock band, Voltbeat.
In a new animated video of ‘Leviathan’, this is the latest single to be taken off their seventh record, ‘Rewind, Replay, Rebound’. The video, which is based on a painting by Karsten Sand which originally appeared in the album’s artwork.
And lastly, we have the king. We have the singer/songwriter Jamie Lenman who’s released a video for ‘The Road To Right’. The track premiered on Daniel P. Carter’s BBC Radio 1 show and is set to be on the upcoming mini record, ‘King Of Clubs’, to be released in September via Big Scary Monsters.
Check out ‘The Road To Right’ below.
The Used have shared a video series taking a look at the behind the scenes of the making of their latest record, ‘Heartwork’.
In the first video, Bert McCracken (Vocals) tells us how ‘Blow Me’, came about.
He says:
“It feels like when The Used is making a record, we kind of write so much in the moment that often at times it’s a reflection of just simply how everyone is feeling in that moment
“If people are really tired, you notice that the song sounds more heavy and has more of a minor key lean to it.
“So ‘Blow Me’ must have been a day where half the people were well rested and fed and half the people were extremely tired and hungry.”
Check out the video below.
And you can listen to ‘Below Me’, below.
There’s still hope on the horizon for Slam Dunk Festival amid the COVID-19 global pandemic.
After announcing the rescheduled dates for the 2020 festival and dropping it’s first wave of bands, they have confirmed two more bands will be joining the line up.
Those two bands you ask?
The Used anddddd….
Alkaline Trio!
Slam Dunk Festival 2020 is set to take place in September with the North dates at Leeds Temple Newsam on the 5th and at Hatfield House on 6th September.
More news from The Used camp as the band have announced their latest record.
‘Heartwork’ is set to be released via Big Noise / Hassle Records on 24th April 2020.
On the record, Bert McCracken has said:
“I really dug deep into the poem and its author, John Milton. As I was reading a lot of his political essays, I realized that a lot of what ’Satan’ says in Paradise Lost are quotes directly from John Milton’s own mouth. A lot of people thought he was the devil back then. He had a huge problem with the show of opulence from the Church. He thought it was disgusting. His poem is about the failed revolution against the Church of England, which is Satan’s failed revolution on earth. And what’s more incredible or exciting than a failed revolution?”
Adding to this: “The new album plays on the emotions, the sincerity, and the vulnerability of the first record and In Love and Death, with a little bit of the flair from Lies for the Liars. Standing in the streaming circle pit with Kesha and Halsey, the album is just as modern sounding. John Feldmann’s production is THAT professional. It sounds really good! Those are two really random examples, but I think if you listen to both of those records, the songs are all over the place: dance, pop, actual punk rock riffs and drums. I think music is so all over the place right now that The Used fits in perfectly.”
Check out ‘Paradise Lost, A Poem By John Milton’ below, and catch the band on
The lead single, ‘Paradise Lost, a poem by John Milton’ can be viewed below.
You can pre-order ‘Heartwork’ via the bands webstore, Amazon and Google Play
Last week it was shared widely that The Used frontman Bert McCracken has shared on stage, “I feel like I’m in My Chemical Romance! And you might catch us on tour with My Chemical Romance in the fall”.
The reveal set the social media world alight but there’s one thing everyone missed. There has been no confirmation whatsoever that The Used are supporting My Chemical Romance but there’s been no backtracking on those comments either.
In an interview with Razor, Bert said:
He then continued that he had “been talking to Gerard [Way], and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see The Used on that tour.”
Bert added afterwards, “I’m not saying… I’m joking. Come on, you know me, I’m a kidder.”
So is this true? Only time will tell.
The Used have announced new headlining dates which co-inside with their Slam Dunk Festival dates.
The tour will see them play two additional shows, one in London and Brighton before playing a handful of dates in Europe in Milan, Zurich, St Petersburg, Moscow and the inaugural Slam Dunk France.
Here are the dates.
May 2020
23rd – Leeds Slam Dunk
24th – Hatfield Slam Dunk
26th – London Lafayette
27th – Brighton Concorde 2
30th – Paris Slam Dunk
June 2020
2nd – Milan Circolo Magnolia
3rd – Zurich Dynamo
9th – St Petersburg Zal
10th – Moscow Arbat Hall
Slam Dunk Festival have announced a brand new leg of their parent festival!
This time, they’re headed to Paris, France which will take place on May 30th 2020 at La Cigale & LA Boule Noire.
The lineup feature The Used, Four Year Strong, Chunk! No Captain Chunk!, Landmvrks and Grayscale.
Ben Ray (Slam Dunks Festival director has said:
“We’re super happy to announce that Slam Dunk Festival is going across the channel into for the first time. We hope this is the start of us building a Slam Dunk home in France and we want to grow this into something amazing over the next few years.”
Tickets are on sale from Thursday 23rd January 2020 at 10AM.
Now you know what it’s time for! And it’s actually on time two weeks in a row! Now that my workload has been cut by my finishing my radio show; The Rock Show, I have a little more time for planning and everything else in my life, including this post. Now let’s get down to business, ten recent music videos.
As Chvrches get ready for the release of their new record, ‘Love Is Dead, they have dropped a video for their track, ‘Miracle’.
Aussie metalcore group Northlane are gearing up for this year’s Slam Dunk Festival in good style as they have dropped a video for ‘Hearmachine’. It’s a track about the human condition and will act as the final single from their third record, ‘Mesmer’.
A few weeks ago, up and comers to the Pop Punk scene, Woes dropped their new EP, ‘Self Help’ and with this video it’s lead single ‘HLB2’ shows the band acting as judges in a talent show, casting their votes against auditions from acts across the fields of singers, dancers and more!
We’re going to the metalcore group August Burns Red for the next video, and this track in question is off their eighth record, ‘Phantom Anthem’. The video is something eerie which sees the band performing in a number of rooms within an abandoned and derelict home. You have to see it to believe it. You can video ‘King Of Sorrow’ below.
This is one of my favourite bands at the moment. Melodic and fun post-hardcore newcomers Sink The Ship seem to be everywhere on the scene at the moment have just dropped their new record, ‘Persevere’. They’ve recently dropped a video for the track, ‘Out Of Here’, which is just another hit for them.
I do like a little bit of everything on these posts and I’ve observed recently that I haven’t been doing so. This next video comes to legendary group Napalm Death. Their track ‘Standardization’ is taken from the band’s recently released rarities compilation record, ‘Coded Smears And More Uncommon Slurs’ which is made up of several lesser known cuts dating from 2004 to 2016. It’s one track which is typically fast-paced, relentless and best of all, critical of modern society.
Now, for the next video’s we’ll go to another legendary band in the Grunge genre. This is of course, Alice In Chains as they have debuted a new video to accompany their new track, ‘The One You Know’. This is their first fresh material since their 2013 record, ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’ so let’s see what we’re working with.
Earlier this year, The Used has to reschedule their tour due to a family emergency. That tour is coming in August but before then, the band have dropped a highly cinematic video for their track, ‘The Nexus’. It’s off the band’s latest record, ‘The Canyon’ and is full of creepy costumes mixed with some startling visuals.
Next, is American Pop-Punkers turned folk duo; This Wild Life. Now the pair have been teasing new material for quite a while and have a new video for us! It’s taken off their upcoming release, ‘Petaluma’, which is released on June 22nd 2018. This is ‘Westside’.
Now the best for last. Jonathan David is ready for his solo debut record but before any of that happens, he has dropped a video which sees the vocalist being held captive and being tortured whilst in an insane asylum which acts as part of a story that is set alongside his previous releases in ‘Everyone’ and ‘What It Is’.
And that’s it for another week! Tune in to the new music video list next Friday to see if it is kept up for three consective weeks again. (I’ll try my best to do so).
According to a report from American Entertainment publication TMZ, it is alleged that The Used have been forced to file a restraining order against their former guitarist Justin Shekoski.
The band had reportedly fired Shekoski earlier this year due to “artistic differences.”
In the report, it is said that Shekoski had threatened varying degrees and intent of violence against his ex-bandmates and has even threatened to “fucking hang [him]self in the middle of a show.”
Apparently, The Used have been granted protection following the filed restraining order, and Shekoski is required to stay at least 100 yeards away from all members of the members of the group and any place that they work, including any venues they’re performing at.
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