Dear Friends,
One of my co-teachers said something really great yesterday. We were watching the kids take their “Brain Break” and she said, “My brain is melting.”
I replied, “Yeah, it’s really hot” and she looked at me with the kind of eyes that a veteran teacher has and shook her head.
“No, I mean that my brain is melting because I just realized we were starting a new year. Starting all over. I forgot that these kids don’t know anything yet.”
This struck me in a way that helped me frame my thinking for the rest of the day and will probably help me get through this first quarter of the year. I, too, was hoping my new kids were smart like my last class was when we got done. My expectations were a bit lofty for a first day.
The good news is that my class seems to have a much different personality that my group last year. While I’ve got some “characters” and a couple might get charming nicknames like “Cocaine Baby,” I don’t think I have anyone close to him on the scale of difficult and heartbreaking.
Yet.
Speaking of Cocaine Baby, I got a text message yesterday from his new homeroom teacher. It just had his name in all caps and three crying emojis. I felt her pain.
*****
As for today, we shall see what we see. I’m optimistic, though, and looking forward to seeing them, so that’s a good sign. There is a lot to work with in this group.
It’s also kind of nice that we started on a Tuesday. I like a short week to get things going. By Monday, we should be in a good groove. It’s kind of like getting the band back together, but also like starting a new one. One this is for sure, though…a good amount of my students are really happy to have me as a teacher and that feels good.
*****
My bandmate, Shane, has turned me on to so much good music over the years. He has excellent taste and, even better yet typically knows what I’m going to like almost as well as I do. When he said to me one day back in early 1999 that I should really check out The Shape of Punk to Come by Refused, I took his advice right away.
There was something about the title that came off as almost a dare. Like, how dare a band call their record, “The Shape of Punk to Come.” In those days, I didn’t have high hopes for new punk rock. I had been doing Hillbilly Devilspeak for almost six years by then and I hadn’t heard a lot of “new” punk that floated my boat.
What The Shape of Punk to Come was, at least for me, was a breath of fresh air. It’s also a very cool and likeable record. It’s got a lot of different styles coming together, making a ruckus, and said ruckus has something to say. It also has style for days.
Refused made this record right before they broke up for the first time in 1998. I remember thinking, “Oh, lovely. Here is this great record and I will never get to see it played live.” Fortunately for me, though, they did reunite, and Michael C. and I went down to Tucson and saw them at the Rialto Theater in 2016 and then I saw them again at Punk Rock Bowling. I could fully formulate my opinion after that.
What I walked away with after seeing them live was that The Shape of Punk to Come is their finest effort and while I’m glad I saw them, they didn’t blow me away live. They were very good, though. Bands like Refused are worth seeing, for sure, but when a record is this good, you are taking a very big chance of being disappointed when you hear it live.
The aggressiveness on The Shape of Punk to Come has a similar feel to when a band like Fugazi gets riled up. Singer Dennis Lyxzén screams a bit more than Ian Mackaye ever did, but really not that much. The musicality and muscle of both bands is pretty similar and I would hazard a guess that at least a few of the guys in Refused were really big Fugazi fans.
One thing I really liked when I first heard the record is all the crazy sounds they had going on. For example, “Bruitist Pome #5” is this short interlude between “Summerholidays vs. Punkroutine” and the truly excellent “New Noise” and it is just fucking cool as hell sounding. After hearing it, I think it makes “New Noise” sound even heavier that it really is.
And that is a heavy song, “New Noise.” It’s also super interesting, too.
Refused hid a lot of cool stuff in this record. I hear different little things when I listen to it closely to this day. One example of this is the subtle crowd noise in “New Noise.”
The Shape of Punk to Come is meaty, too. There are only three songs of the original 12 that are under four minutes.
Magnus Björklund’s bass guitar and David Sandström’s drums are quite tasty. As a rhythm section, they were super locked in on the record. The guitars and synth work are also great, too. Kristofer Steen and Jon Brännström both shine, as well, and their tones are great.
Sadly, this record did not really represent the shape of punk or even post-punk/post-hardcore to come. They created a classic and a lot of bands tried to live up to it, but nobody could until much later. Now, I think, there are some bands that are taking cues from Refused and doing high energy and highly technical stuff, but still, not quite as good as on The Shape of Punk to Come.
One caveat that I will throw out there is this: I have to be in the mood to listen to The Shape of Punk to Come. It’s so damn good, but not for every occasion. Seems like maybe they should make another record.
Oh, and by the way, the guitar riff on “Refused Are Fucking Dead” absolutely kills. Great riff, great tone, and a great song.
*****
See you tomorrow.
AI has heard Refused.
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