article Related Topics:
Refused_TV :: Refused
 

Refused was a hardcore punk band originating from Umeå, Sweden. They formed in January 1992 with Dennis Lyxzén, David Sandström, Pär Hansson and Jonas Lidgren and released their first demo, refused, the same year. The band went on to release one more demo, five EPs and three albums (not including The Demo Compilation or The EP Compilation) before breaking up in 1998. Refused's final line-up consisted of the members Dennis Lyxzén, David Sandström, Kristofer Steen and Jon Brännström who released everything from Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent (1996) to the definitive album The Shape of Punk to Come (1998). In this album, Refused drew heavily on the influence of the Washington, D.C. hardcore band, Nation of Ulysses, New York hardcore band Born Against, as well as the writings of Karl Marx and the Situationist International. The band were already well known for their vegan and straight edge stances. Refused broke up the same year as a result of expending all their creative energy and wanting different things. Lead singer Dennis Lyxzén went on to form The (International) Noise Conspiracy, and 93 Million Miles while the other members, as well as venturing into their own projects, formed the group TEXT. Dennis Lyxzén and David Sandström also got together with other friends in 2004 to make the self titled The Lost Patrol Band album.

Final Show

After releasing 'The Shape of Punk To Come', Refused decided to do one final campaign in the United States. With tension in the band running high, everything finally collided only a few shows into the tour. The band decided to call it quits after a show in Atlanta, Georgia. Flights were booked back to Sweden, and the band set out towards the Reagan International Airport. Fred Ziomek, guitarist for tourmates Darkest Hour, had attended James Madison University, in nearby Harrisonburg, Virginia. He convinced the band to play one last show in his basement en route to National Airport. They agreed, and even though there were only around twelve hours to promote the show, there were still around four-hundred people in attendance.

The line-up was: Union of the Snake (Cornbread's joke glam-metal band), Darkest Hour, Frodus, and Refused.

The police kept coming by all night, and Tony Weinbender who had been put in charge of organizing everything, kept them at bay for a while. Then they came during Frodus and said "If we get another complaint and have to come back here, we're taking you to jail." Weinbender said he would shut the show down, but did not. A few songs into Refused's set, police entered the house and plowed through the throng of people to get to the basement. The band began playing what would be their final song, "Rather Be Dead", as the police forced their way through the crowd. The song reached the crescendo where Dennis would have screamed, "rather be alive". The plug was pulled (literally), and the band stopped playing. The audience kept screaming the refrain to the song, "rather be alive". The police were at a loss for what to do. Weinbender was taken to jail. He still maintains to this day that it was worth it.

Years later, members of the band would admit that they felt a sense of relief that the cops had shut the show down.

Final Communique

After Refused ended, they released one final, fiery letter to everyone. Here it is, reprinted in entirety courtesy of their label Burning Heart.

"Refused Are Fucking Dead" (The last official pressrelease)

Just like the political theorists and philosophers (Baudrillard, Foucault, Derrida, Debord and so on) we also managed with a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. A manifestation of an idea to a concrete action. When Quilapayuns in 1972 realized the importance of widening their spectrum of action by dividing the band into five different sections to be able to spread their ideas on as many locations and to as many people as possible they had realized theprinciple of collective massorganization. A division into five new directions means in practice five new projects that can challenge and fight the boredom and death that sneaks into our everyday life. Five new ways to make the political manifesto that once was known under the collective spanner of "the Refused Party Program" concrete, five new forces that can devour and choke every tendency of the bourgeoisie shackle that keeps us down.

So why does Refused have to die to be able to rise from the ashes like the Fenix??? It is impossible to take part of a revolutionary program when every aspect of existence has to be projected as entertainment and music, a tradition that both in expression and creation has been dead for far too long. We were hoping that we could be the final nail in the coffin of the rotten cadaver that was popular music, but unfortunately the reification was too big for us to succeed with our feeble attempts to detour this boring discourse.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? When every political idea has to become safe and categorized just so that it can be defined by disgusting "journalists" who's only aim is the selling of issues and the cashing in of paychecks, how can we then show the seriousness of the situation? When the single purpose of every song written is to accumulate capital for the record companies that will only kill every attempt at spontaneity and creativity, how are we then expected to create? When every show played just becomes another brick in the wall between people, between "fans" and "stars", when we instead of getting communication and interaction are being forced to become nothing but consumers and producers. When people are being praised as geniuses and idols just because they play music or write books or something equally boring and "cultural", when the widespread belief that their creation is more important than that people take part in everyday life...What does that say about the rest of us and what does it say about the system that we have? When we continue to uphold the bourgeoisie myth of self realization by saying that anyone can make it, just as long as they work hard, or pick up a guitar, we uphold the dream of good vs. bad jobs (rockstar = good, factory worker = bad) thus we also uphold the class system and the justification of it. When the self appointed elite talks about culture, the culture that tricks us into believing that there is such a thing as culture, without any thought or consideration of the political or economical system. When we become just another subculture with all the right attributes instead of a real counter-culture, then it is time to die, to revalue the position that we are in.

Refused "broke up" on the 26th of September 1998 in Atlanta, Georgia, and in a last feeble attempt to break the linear timeline that the modern ways of production has forced upon us we played the last show in Harrisonburg, Virginia on the 6th of October 1998. The show was interrupted after 4 songs by the local policeforce who thought that they've had enough. We knew that they were onto us but it was both a chock and a relief that they did not catch us until the last show. Then, after 7 years of trying, we finally managed to create our own timespace within the capitalist powerstructure. The crowd managed to manifest a moment of passionate living when they continued to scream "rather be alive..." to the corrupt and useless preservers of private property.

So what now??? We will continue to, at every attempt, overthrow the class system, burn museums and to strangle the great lie that we call culture. We will continue with new projects and forces to do everything that is in our power to overthrow the capitalist structure that alienates us from every aspect of life and living, smash the reification that forces us to dress in outdated identities and rules: we will continue to demand revolution here and now, and not in some vague future that all reactionary leftist fundamentalists and reformists are talking about. We want every day and every action to be a manifestation of love, joy, confusion and revolt.This is the last that we have to say about it, WE WILL NOT GIVE INTERVIEWS TO STUPID REPORTERS who still haven't got anything of what we are all about, we will never play together again and we will never try to glorify or celebrate what was. All that we have to say has been said here or in our music/manifestos/lyrics and if that is not enough you are not likely to get it anyway. WE THEREFORE DEMAND THAT EVERY NEWSPAPER BURN ALL THEIR PHOTOS OF REFUSED so that we will no longer be tortured with memories of a time gone by and the mythmaking that single-minded and incompetent journalism offers us. Instead we need to look forward. We got everything to win and nothing but our boredom to lose.

REFUSED ARE DEAD - LONG LIVE REFUSED

Discography

EPs/MCDs

ordered by release date.(first to last)

Albums

DVDs

Refused Are Fucking Dead

Compilations

  • Really Fast Vol.8 (1993) - LP (Really Fast)
    • I Wish (Taken from This Is The New Deal)
  • Northcore: The Polar Scene Compilation (1994) - CD (Burning Heart)
    • The New Deal (Previously Unreleased Version)
    • Guilty (Previously Unreleased)
  • Hardcore For The Masses Vol.2 (1994) - CD (Burning Heart)
    • The Real (Previously Unreleased Version)
  • Cheap Shots - CD (1994) (Burning Heart)
    • Hate Breeds Hate (Taken from This Is The New Deal)
  • Adrenalin (1994) - CD (Luger)
    • Pump The Brakes (Taken from This Just Might Be...The Truth)
    • Strength (Taken from This Just Might Be...The Truth)
  • ''Straight Edge As Fuck (1994) - MCD (Desperate Fight)
    • Everlasting (Previously Unreleased Version)
  • Straight Edge As Fuck Vol.2 (1995) - CD (Desperate Fight)
    • Cheap... (Previously Unreleased)
  • Purple Pain (1995) - CD (Dolores)
    • Let's Go Crazy (Previously unreleased / Written by Prince)
  • ''Best Alternative (1996) - CD (Arcade)
    • Return To The Closet (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Kittenish Vol.4 (1996) - CD (Border)
    • Coup D'état (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Still From The Heart 199? - CD (We Bite)
    • Rather Be Dead (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Equal Vision Records Sampler 199? - CD (Equal Vision)
    • Sunflower Princess (Taken from Everlasting)
  • Defenders Of The Opressed Breed 199? - CD (Veggie Music)
    • Jag Äter Inte Mina Vänner (Taken from Rather Be Dead E.P)
  • Victory Promo 02 (1996) - CD (Victory)
    • Coup D'état (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Children In Heat (1996) - CD (Hellbound Heart)
    • Bullet (Previously Unreleased / Written by The Misfits)
  • Victory Style Vol.2 (1997) - CD (Victory)
    • It's Not O.K... (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Popstad Umeå (1997) - CD (Nons)
    • Rather Be Dead (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Straight Edge As Fuck Vol.3 (1997) - CD (Desperate Fight)
    • New Noise (Previously Unreleased Version)
  • Cheap Shots Vol.3 (1998) - CD (Burning Heart)
    • Rather Be Dead (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
    • The Shape Of Punk To Come (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • Sweden Deluxe (1998) - CD (Moondog)
    • New Noise (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • Still Screaming (1998) - CD/LP (Burning Heart)
    • The Deadly Rhythm (taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
    • Peek-A-Boo (Previously Unreleased)
  • Better Living Through Reckless Experimentation 199? - CD (Barcode)
    • The Deadly Rhythm (taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • Punk mob 199? - CD (???)
    • New Noise (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • Punk-O-Rama Vol.4 (1999) - CD (Epitaph)
    • Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • Can't Stop This Train (1999) - CD (Join The Team Player)
    • Nothing New Again (Previously Unreleased)
  • Rock 'N' Snow 199?/200? - CD (???)
    • New Noise (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • Metroschifter: Encapsulated (Tribute) (2001) - CD (Doghouse)
  • 100 % Adrenalin (2000) - CD (MRN)
    • Coup d'etad (Unreleased live-version)
  • Cheap Shots Vol.4 (2000) - CD (Burning Heart)
    • New Noise (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • Burning Heart Records: Smash It Up! (2000) - CD (Burning Heart)
    • Summerholiday vs. Punkroutine (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • For Those Who Stand (2001) - CD (Tear It Down)
    • The Deadly Rhythm (taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • Cheap Shots Vol.5 (2001) - CD (Burning Heart)
    • Rather Be Dead (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Punk-O-Rama Vol.5 (2001) - CD (Epitaph)
    • Refused Are Fucking Dead - Remix (Taken from The New Noise Theology E.P)
  • Punk-O-Rama Vol.8 (2003) - 2xCD (Epitaph)
    • Coup D'état (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Startracks (2003) - CD (Startracks)
    • Pump The Brakes (Taken from This Just Might Be...The Truth)
  • Punk-O-Rama Vol.9 (2004) - CD+DVD (Epitaph)
    • Liberation Frequency (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
  • Victory Video Sampler 199? - VHS (Victory)
    • Rather Be Dead (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Flame Still Burns (1999) - VHS (Burning Heart)
    • New Noise (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
    • Rather Be Dead (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
  • Hang the VJ (2001) - DVD (Burning Heart)
    • New Noise (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)
    • Rather Be Dead (Taken from Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent)
    • Pump The Brakes (Taken from This Just Might Be The Truth)
    • Hate Breeds Hate (Taken from This Is The New Deal)
  • Punk-O-Rama Vol.1 (2003) - DVD (Epitaph)
    • New Noise (Taken from The Shape Of Punk To Come)

Bootlegs

  • Split with Abhinanda
    • Guilty / Let's go crazy / Spiritual game / Revolution
    • Year: 199?
    • Format: 7"
  • Their last concert in Europe
    • Recorded: 1998
    • Release Year:199?-200?
    • Format: CD-R
    • The shape of punk to come / The Refused party program / Circle pit / Hook, line and sinker / Refused are fuckin dead / Rather be dead / Burn it / The deadly rhythm / Pretty face / New noise / Tannhäuser/Derivé

information obtained from http://page.to/come

See also

External links

Swedish musical groups | Hardcore punk groups | Musical activists | Vegans

Refused | Refused | Refused | Refused

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Refused".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world