{"id":33254,"date":"2012-08-15T12:29:26","date_gmt":"2012-08-15T12:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/versus-refused-songs-to-fan-the-flames-of\/"},"modified":"2023-01-11T15:17:06","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T15:17:06","slug":"versus-refused-songs-to-fan-the-flames-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/versus-refused-songs-to-fan-the-flames-of\/","title":{"rendered":"Versus: Refused – \u2018Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent\u2019 vs \u2018The Shape Of Punk To Come\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Back in January we were hit by some news. Some very big, news, in fact. For the punk scene and even many outside of punk, we were graced by the news that Refused<\/strong> were back. HOLY HECK. Yeah, it was quite something. The band that literally defined and shaped punk for the majority of bands that would form after<\/em> their demise. Although, they did leave us with some albums to keep us occupied. Unfortunately for the band themselves they never received the recognition they deserved until after their split.<\/p>\n

Anyway, history lesson OVER. What we’re here to discuss is which is the better Refused<\/strong> album. They’ve been in the UK this week headlining a couple of shows and so we deemed it was a more than suitable topic.\u00a0Two of our very own writers will be debating this very topic, fingers on their keyboards, and delivering to you exactly which album they think is best.<\/p>\n

Aaron Lohan has chosen ‘Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent,’<\/em> possibly considered the underdog to many in comparison to final offering ‘The Shape Of Punk To Come’<\/em> that James Bearclaw Lewis will be defending.<\/span><\/p>\n

Give both albums a chance! Read on, take it in and let us know what you think over at the usual spots of\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent<\/span><\/strong> (Aaron Lohan)<\/span>
It\u2019s easy to say that the best Refused<\/strong> record and the one that marked their legacy was \u2018The Shape of Punk to Come.\u2019<\/em> Nothing more, nothing less especially since we can all agree that it is their best record. However, the preceding record to such an artistic revolutionary epitaph laid the foundations of the band\u2019s innovative musicianship but at the same time retained the straight to the point integral hardcore punk fury of their earlier work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent,\u2019<\/em> the band\u2019s second full length, introduced of what was to become of Refused<\/strong>. This would be Exhibit A in underling the Swedish punk legends as a spontaneous machine of twists and turns. Whether it\u2019s the quiet uneasy verse, loud throat shredding chorus dynamic of \u2018Return to the Closet\u2019<\/em> or the interchangeable rhythmic dipping and diving of \u2018Hook, Line And Sinker,\u2019<\/em> there is an unending sense of originality that the band achieve. This is held up by the lethal co-operation of anti-establishment lyrics which have a sense of urgency surrounding it as if the clock is ticking to get all those under the oppressive regime to take notice of what is going on before they are all smothered by conformist capitalist values.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Overall this all fits together because there is room made for interesting musical ideas to draw you in but it\u2019s short and to the point without making it a daunting affair. \u2018Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent\u2019<\/em> is a heavy punk record but with more of a serrated edge to it, a weapon that is more effective but retains the simplicity that any revolutionary would choose if they wanted to solve a problem in 30 minutes. It\u2019s the best of both worlds.<\/span><\/p>\n

What we have here is not an inferior record to \u2018The Shape Of Punk To Come\u2019<\/em> but an equal to it. In fact \u2018Songs to Fan the Flames\u2026\u2019<\/em> is quite capable of surpassing its successor as a better record. Its delivery is powerful enough to leave a molten metallic imprint on the brain both lyrically and musically due to its innovative simplicity. This was the bulldozer of the band\u2019s growth, the start of the chain reaction. With that in mind, it could be argued that this indeed is the band\u2019s epitaph.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Shape Of Punk To Come<\/strong> (James Bearclaw Lewis)
What might possibly be left to say about ‘The Shape Of Punk To Come:\u00a0<\/em>A Chimerical Bomb In 12 Bursts’<\/em> that has not been subject to extensive\u00a0discussion and scrutiny by now\u00a0? Arguably nothing. However, this was\u00a0not always the case. In fact, before their eventual demise, a short
time after the release of ‘TSOPTC,’<\/em> Refused<\/strong> had been the recipient of fairly\u00a0sparse attention from their peers, audiences and critics alike. Yet\u00a0from the warm ashes of their disbandment rose a newfound appreciation\u00a0for what the band had been standing for as well as achieving within\u00a0the punk genre, especially their final album.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The concept of the album, as stated in the album’s liner notes,\u00a0revolves around the band’s belief that punk’s ethos could not survive\u00a0if its revolutionary core continued to be distilled into increasingly\u00a0mainstream conventions. As such, the sound of Refused<\/strong> evolved from a
more traditional form of hardcore (though ‘To Fan The Flames Of<\/em>\u00a0Discontent’<\/em> did have a couple of instances that anticipated the\u00a0changes in sound) to one that drew influences and mixed elements from\u00a0prog, jazz, electronic music, resulting in punk song as radical and
unconventional as one was likely to come across at that time.<\/p>\n

Opening track ‘Worm Of The Senses\/Faculties Of The Skull’<\/em> twists and\u00a0turns between various grooves and time signatures, Lyxz\u00e9n screech the\u00a0only consistent thread as Refused’s hardcore crashes around him before\u00a0an abrupt stop, as the band introduce the re-occurring ‘real’ radio\u00a0sounds that glue some of the tracks together. A potent notion when\u00a0followed by ’Liberation Frequency’<\/em> in which Lyxz\u00e9n claims Refused\u00a0‘want the airwaves back, [we] want all the time, all of the time’\u00a0<\/em>before the track gets riffed into blackness. ‘Deadly Rhythm’<\/em> shows the\u00a0band’s adept musicianship with regards to shape and rhythmics, while\u00a0also perfectly integrating a short jazz interlude in the mix. Arguably\u00a0the band’s signature track, ‘New Noise’<\/em> might be considered the best\u00a0summary of the album’s philosophy as a whole, entirely encapsulated\u00a0within the lyrical component of the song, juxtaposed with the emphatic
energy of its crowd-destroying riff.<\/p>\n

With the addition of short political spoken-word sections (‘Refused<\/em>\u00a0Party Program’<\/em>), eclectic electronic interludes (‘Bruitist Pome #5’<\/em>),\u00a0a beautiful and haunting classical introduction (‘Tannh\u00e4user \/<\/em>\u00a0Deriv\u00e8’<\/em>), ‘The Shape Of Punk To Come’<\/em> is an intriguing, persistently\u00a0relevant, unfathomably influential album. It consistently challenges\u00a0traditional discourses of genre, art and politics, yet always by way\u00a0of eloquent and enthralling examples of punk counter-culture in its\u00a0most authentic form.<\/p>\n

The album’s opening line has Lyxz\u00e9n claiming ‘they told me the<\/em>\u00a0classics never go out of style, but they do… they do. Somehow baby,<\/em>\u00a0I never thought that we’d do to.’<\/em> Let’s just say, Mr. Lyxz\u00e9n, that we\u00a0agree to disagree.<\/p>\n

What is your\u00a0favourite Refused album? Let us know on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Want to be a guest writer for a future \u2018Versus\u2019 feature?<\/strong>\u00a0If you\u2019re in a band, run a label or music website then we want to here from you. Send us an e-mail to\u00a0<\/span>info@alreadyheard.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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