#5 from the’98 greats is THE SHAPE OF PUNK TO COME! Please note: It’s not The Refused—just Refused.
Sweedish mod rockers with mop tops and tight black sweaters playing (punk? hard core?) heavy music that makes you want to dance/change the world. Who could possibly have a problem with that? This record rules. The video for “New Noise” is still in my top 5 of all time. In my opinion no one has ever made a heavy record that matches this one for innovation, creativity, and heart.
Within Cool Hand Luke, we had very divergent tastes in music, but Refused was one band we agreed on. We listened to them in the van a lot. There was something motivating and empowering about this record. It was like, “Let’s not just complain about everything. Let’s do something about it!” What Refused did was record a groundbreaking album that pointed a finger at capitalist ideals and influenced a new generation of hard core kids to do more than just chug and mosh. Then they broke up shortly after that. Bummer.
