Refused once famously rallied against the state of punk with their 1998 release “The Shape Of Punk To Come“, these days frontman Dennis Lyxzén has a much less hopeful viewpoint on the genre. Speaking with Spin, he stated:
“[Punk rock] doesn’t mean anything. It got appropriated by the world. It’s a subculture with men with shorts that play guitar. It has no meaning, it has no value, it has no cultural gravitas. I mean, it’s going to be something that will define me and our band forever, but today it has no value. For us, I think it was more of an idea than a musical expression. What stuck with us was the idea that anything is possible.”
Refused will return with their first new album since that 1998 release, “Freedom“, on June 30th. For now, you can stream it here.
