Refused-The Shape of Punk to Come

I was just surfing through some of the older posts on this site to get to some more downloading, and while doing so I was reminded of Refused for some reason; I was listening to A Troop of Echoes when i decided to look up the universally revered album that lead to the dismantling of the band behind it.

I remember seeing the video for New Noise back in highschool on some MTV afterschool and loving it, but never picking up the album; i would forget about them, and until just now I haven't heard anything else from their definitive masterpiece. Just from the first few tracks, i can tell how much they must have influenced bands like Mars Volta, Dredg, Bloc Party.. the list could go on. The range of sounds on this is truly special; in 1998, they were mixing a lot of sounds together that at the time was very new; great production for a punk-rock band, first and foremost, but then how they also added sampling in both spoken vocal snippits, but also sections of cool electronica; singing, screaming, winding song structures, and just limitless creativity for a 4 piece hardcore band. Here is New Noise:



It builds up some sweet heavy tension, before letting go to a cool electronic interlude before the vocals enter; The track is the centerpiece of the album, and after hearing the first 4 tracks that lead up to it, i can see how it is a song they decided to put dead center because it really solidifies the themes and sounds they spend the first 20 minutes of the album building, and put it to use for a very cool 5 minute single. I wont say anything more as I am just now starting to dig into the rest of The Shape of Punk to Come, but i am very glad i have rediscovered these guys. Dig it, fools!

the shape of punk to come