Refused Return?

Seminal Swedish hardcore outfit Refused are rumoured to be reforming 12 years after their split. “Refused are back” has been circulating around the internet, prominent music journalists have been tweeting about it, and the band’s official site simply states Refused - coming soon…

If this is true it would be simply phenomenal. In their 7 or so years in music they managed to completely reshape an entire genre, culminating in the arrogantly titled but ultimately prophetic and groundbreaking album The Shape Of Punk To Come. Criminally underrated when they were around, the band collapsed under a brutal touring schedule and disagreements  between members (as documented with painful honesty in the film Refused Are Fucking Dead), playing their final show in a fan’s basement (a gig cut short by local police). Refused have since enjoyed cult status with many pioneering bands stating the Swedish quartet as a major influence on them.

Since the split various members went on to new musical pastures, most notably vocalist Dennis Lyxzén with his band The (International) Noise Conspiracy, but none reached the musical heights of Refused. Hands down the one band I have always wanted to reform, if these rumours are true I will be a very, very happy man.

Marko