Refused: The Shape of Punk to Come

“They say that the classics never go out of style. But they do – they do.”

– Worms Of The Senses/Faculties Of The Skull

With this statement, Dennis Lyxzén proved himself a liar – as documented by the growing legacy of Refused’s challenging and prophetic third LP, The Shape Of Punk To Come: A Chimerical Bombination In 12 Bursts.

Around 1998, when this final album by the Swedish quartet first dropped, ‘punk’ had become mostly associated with the three-chord sounds of Green Day and Blink 182. With a cadre of underground and local groups emulating pop punk heavies, the genre bordered on stagnation. All it took was four Swedes to change the game and breathe fresh air into a scene that had stagnated with too many safe and poppy LPs and 45s.

Upon its release The Shape of Punk to Come proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that punk music could have heart and a brain, that complex structures and instrumentation not in line with the traditions of the genre could be assimilated by it – that ‘punk’ should never have a rulebook, just the spirit of resistance.

At the time you’d be pressed to find hardcore punk tracks running over five minutes – a feat they achieve with the brilliant, electro-infused New Noise and the devastating (and prescient) Refused Are Fuckin Dead – though after this album, even goof-punks NOFX got a bit experimental, releasing an 18-minute track as an EP.

Achieving more than its title suggests, it put forth a challenge, changing the shape of music to come. Not only did Refused, with its infusion of hardcore and harmony, violins and violent guitar shredding, influence the likes of future punk pioneers such as Fucked Up (especially 2008’s The Chemistry Of Common Life), but the band also helped steer other styles, resulting in half-breed genres and groups blending electronics even further with punk and hardcore intensity.

And while the merit of the band’s contributions to metal or emo may be subject to debate – the God-awful Crazytown have covered New Noise live, and there are a slew of bullshit bands with bad haircuts blending keys with screams – it’s hard to envision Dillinger Escape Plan’s current sound or The Blood Brothers’ final album without Lyxzén and Co’s indirect tutelage.

With that in mind, there’s a more fitting lyric from Dennis to do this seminal work justice.  As he threatens on the album’s penultimate opus, Tannhäuser / Derivè, prophetically scratching the surface of The Shape of Punk to Come’s lasting ripple-effect: “So where do we go from here? Just about anywhere.”