In "The shape of punk that never came" by United Nations, Geoff Rickly appears to air his frustration over an unfulfilled promise made by now-defunct post-hardcore innovators Refused and, more specifically, their vocalist/songwriter Dennis Lyxzén. Perhaps Rickly is simply lamenting over the breakup of one of his favourite bands. Refused's final album, 1998's The Shape of Punk to Come: A chemical bombination in 12 bursts is still considered by many (myself included) to be one the most influential and significant albums of the 20th Century. Importantly, as one looks further into Rickly's lyrics, the song is more than simply a bemoaning over Refused's demise.
In the second verse, Rickly specifically calls out Lyxzén, "Dennis are you listening?/Is there something that I'm missing?/ Where is the passion?" Lyxzén's post-Refused career has been underwhelming to say the least. His two main bands, The (International) Noise Conspiracy and Invasionen (formerly The Lost Patrol Band), both greatly waver from the hardcore punch of Refused. The former is a pop-rock fiasco and the latter sounds like The Hives. Both are still replete with Lyxzén's leftist, counter-culturist, society is doomed lyrics. However, especially in regards to The (International) Noise Conspiracy (Invasionen's lyrics are exclusively in Swedish, so I'm not entirely sure what the fuck is going on), the sincerity, urgency, and, as Rickly mentions, passion is lacking.
They told me that the classics never go out of styleBut they do, they do
The opening line of The Shape of Punk to Come, aside from simply being an awesomely profound way to start an album, has a certain amount of resonance a decade later. To begin with, Refused ultimately sets up the album to be a new classic. The sentence essentially tells us to forget everything we thought we knew about music, to toss aside the so-called classics and give in to a new musical order. However, it also admits that one day, the album itself will need to be tossed aside if it is indeed to become a classic. Perhaps that time is now.
It appears that Rickly is trying to come to terms with this notion:
If all the classics go out of fashionWhat will we do with all of the passion?
Refused certainly was a passionate band. However, as I have mentioned, this passion has not translated to post-Refused projects. So where does it go? Is it embedded in all of us when we listen to Refused, when we write our own songs that, even on a deep subconscious level, are influenced by Refused?
To be rather blunt, Lyxzén has lost the passion. The last two (International) albums were produced by none other than Rick Rubin, the man responsible for such classics as Weezer's Red album and Make Believe, Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight, Red Hot Chili Peppers' overly indulgent, unnecessarily long masterpiece Stadium Arcadium, and a bunch of other overproduced, non-threateningly mainstream albums. The pro-Marxist lyrics of Lyxzén lack a certain sincerity when recorded at Sunset Sound studio in Hollywood by a man who is paid in gold nuggets.
The significance and relevance of Refused has tickled my psyche as of late because of a newfound interest in United Nations's lyrics and the fact that I recently stumbled upon Refused's posthumous final release, The New Noise Theology EP. Upon listening to the EP, despite thoroughly enjoying the two "new" tracks on it, the music itself does in fact sound dated. It calls back to an era when anything labelled "punk" had four chords and whiny lyrics and cock-rocking nu-metal dominated the airwaves. The Shape of Punk to Come is indeed a classic, but it has gone out of style. The passion has been passed on to new bands who challenge the musical aesthetic, bands like Thursday and United Nations. However, as I'm sure Rickly is all too aware of, soon enough they will go out of style as well.
Refused - New Noise Theology EP
