Refused

Essential Albums

  • The Shape of Punk to Come (Deluxe Edition)
    The Shape of Punk to Come (Deluxe Edition)

    It seems strange to imagine given how iconic Refused’s third album became, but 1998’s The Shape of Punk to Come was widely despised when it was released. What is not so strange is why that happened: It was supposed to. Ever the rancorous socialists—opener “Worms of the Senses/Faculties of the Skull”’s first lyric is “I got a bone to pick with capitalism/And a few to break”—The Shape of Punk to Come proved itself a protest album far beyond the political. It was a pointed reaction to what Refused felt was the agonizing irony of punk and its logically angrier next step, hardcore. These genres had erupted from the often working class and always liberal-minded as they railed against conservative oppression. What made a sound “punk” or “hardcore” by the late ’90s had, maddeningly, become the domain of elitist gatekeeping. Refused was having none of it. Lead vocalist Dennis Lyxzén has even semi-joked The Shape of Punk to Come should’ve been called Fuck You. On “Protest Song ’68,” his spoken word was more elaborate: “Fixed dogmas can’t substitute/Creative thought and action/We could be dangerous/Art as a real threat.” The Shape of Punk to Come rediscovered the anarcho-punk ethos by reexamining the timeless essence of its rebellious spirit, resulting in a referential rabbit hole from presentation to articulation. Lyxzén and drummer David Sandström’s front-cover collage of new technology, rioting, post-war swing dance, and untethered expression sit purposefully underneath the record’s title—itself an allusion to Ornette Coleman’s seminally subversive and similarly derided (at the time, crucially) 1959 free-jazz record, The Shape of Jazz to Come. All compulsions for existential activism at its most authentic, particularly the latter—which is not just lauded visually but frequently incorporated musically. Most portentously, “The Deadly Rhythm” opens with ’50s radio announcer Bob Garrity introducing a brief snippet of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia.” Refused cataclysmically lapses into swinging ride cymbals and acoustic walking bass at 1:38, a threatening promise that comes to full break-it-to-remake-it fruition on the now-anthemic “New Noise”—a five-minute elevator pitch for the shape of punk to come that declares, amidst sizzling momentum and brooding minimalism (not to mention the unspeakable incorporation of electronica): “How can we expect anyone to listen/If we are using the same old voice?”

Albums

Music Videos

Artist Playlists

  • Refused Essentials
    Refused Essentials

    They may have gone away for a while, but Refused are very much alive and well.

  • Inspired by Refused
    Inspired by Refused

    Their "New Noise" inspired the next wave of punk, hardcore, and emo heroes.

Singles & EPs

Compilations

Appears On

About Refused

Influential Swedish hardcore band Refused formed in 1991. Debuting in 1993 with the EP This Is the New Deal, the group issued the full-length This Just Might Be... The Truth later that same year. In the wake of completing 1998's classic The Shape of Punk to Come, Refused disbanded, unable to reconcile their anarchist leanings with a career in music. The members went on to form the (International) Noise Conspiracy, TEXT, and AC4, among other projects. In 2012, Refused reunited and appeared at Coachella later that year. Their fourth studio album, Freedom, was released in 2015. They recorded with Nick Launay and also turned to Swedish pop producer/songwriter Shellback (Taylor Swift, Britney Spears) for lead single "Elektra." ~ Jason Ankeny & Scott Kerr

ORIGIN
Umeå, Sweden
FORMED
1992
GENRE
Hard Rock

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