The Shape of Punk to Come

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The Shape of Punk to Come

Studio album by Refused
Released	October 27, 1998
Recorded	1997
Genre	Hardcore punk
Length	55:11
Label	Burning Heart Records
Producer(s)	Eskil Lövström, Andreas Nilsson, Pelle Henricsson, Refused
All Music Guide (4.5/5) link Pitchfork (8.7/10) link
Refused chronology
The Demo Compilation (1997)	The Shape of Punk to Come (1998)

The Shape of Punk to Come was the final album released by Swedish hardcore punk band Refused before they split up. It was released in 1998 through Burning Heart Records. Many modern hardcore bands such as AFI and Thursday cite this CD as their main influence. British band Million Dead took their name from a line in the final song "The Apollo Programme Was a Hoax". The title of the album is a reference to Nation of Ulysses song "The Sound of Jazz to Come", not Ornette Coleman's 1959 album The Shape of Jazz to Come as commonly believed. Don Devore (of Ink & Dagger fame) played bass on Refused's final tour dates in America, and has stated that Refused were unaware of Ornette Coleman's album until he mentioned it to the band. It should also be noted that the song "Refused are Fuckin' Dead" is a reference to the Born Against song "Born Against are Fuckin' Dead". Refused borrowed liberally from both Born Against and Nation of Ulysses, in ways of music, dress, and ideology.

[edit] Overview

This album marked a sharp and conscious departure from Refused's earlier work. The philosophy of the album, expounded in the ample liner notes and encapsulated in the song "New Noise", was that punk and hardcore music could not be anti-establishment by continuing to package revolutionary lyrics in sounds which had been increasingly co-opted into the mainstream. The sound of the record presented a challenge to existing punk sensibilities; its sounds were 'punk' at a fundamental level, but worlds apart from Pop punk bands such as Green Day and Blink 182, and more political pop punk bands such as Bad Religion and Pennywise.

The album also took on the idea of "political interludes" between songs, reminiscent of the DC band The Nation of Ulysses. The use of more technological sounds or drum and bass music, particularly on the New Noise single/EP which followed the album, is a tactic that various members of Refused have credited to the influence of Philadelphia punk band Ink & Dagger.