Refused Are Dead

Refused Are Dead

Matthew Winters

"They told me that classics never go out of style, but they do, they do. Somehow, baby, I never thought that we'd do too."

These are the first words uttered on Refused's 1998 cathartic magnum opus The Shape of Punk to Come, the next sentence screamed by front throat Dennis Lyxzen is the album's dictum "I've a bone to pick with capitalism and a few to break." The album influenced a whole generation of hardcore kids who wanted change but couldn't quite get there, much like Refused themselves, and now with recent repressing on vinyl by Burning Heart Records it is poised to influence a whole new generation.

The album, a conglomeration of punk, hardcore, spoken word, jazz, electronic and metal music, is about change, but understanding that not much will change with the effort that you put into it. Centerpiece song "New Noise" rises slowly and burns out fast but brings to light the idea that "We need new noise, new art for regular people" while the chorus states that the band "lack the motion to move to the new beat." "Refused Party Programme" screams "This is the beat of a new generation" over a buzz saw guitar line and a wonderful drum line in direct response to "New Noise." Starting out with a start-stop dynamic "The Deadly Rhythm" drops into a free jazz solo about a minute into the song. Perhaps the most shocking and beautiful song on the album is "Tannhauser/ Derive", an eight-minute string and drum track that pulses and burns out slowly, the complete opposite of "New Noise", its purpose is awe and show that new ways can be found just by walking somewhere new.

The true worth of this album is that so many have copied it. Listeners can hear Refused in Thursday, Underoath and even Paramore, who are unabashed Refused lovers. Upon their demise Refused left us with one final press release, here is one prime example why they finished, "When every expression, no matter how radical it is, can be transformed into a commodity and be bought or sold like cheap soda, how is it then possible that you are going to be able to take 'art' seriously?" The Shape Of Punk To Come is serious art, and in the words of Dennis Lyxzen on Refused's sad end "Instead we need to look forward. We got everything to win and nothing but our boredom to lose."

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 3/27/09