SEWARD: Punk's political divide
The first seconds of "The Shape Of Punk To Come," the seminal 1998 album by Swedish hardcore-punk band Refused, offer little comfort.
Street traffic lingers in the background as vocalist Dennis Lyxzén calmly offers iconoclastic wisdom, saying, "They told me the classics never go out of style, but they do, they do. Somehow, baby? I never thought … we do too." He then, in a slightly less calm tone of voice, offers to break the bones of capitalism.
"The Shape Of Punk To Come" is a barrage of anti-bourgeoisie messaging delivered by a man who sounds like he wants nothing more than to rip your head off if you dare profit from the world of capitalism, such is the aggression behind Lyxzén's vocals.
The tagline for the album, "A Chimerical Bombination In 12 Bursts," could not have been more fitting. The chimerical nature of the album comes from the band's unwillingness to stick within punk’s tradition: 4/4 timings, guitar-based and being authentic.
The opening track, "Worms Of The Senses/Faculties Of The Skull," is a jaw-dropping seven minutes, while each song features incorporations of techno, jazz, folk and spoken word — all decisively anti-punk genres.
Bombination is a little more obvious, given Lyxzén's primal screams and the necessity of the punk of it all — it is called "The Shape Of Punk To Come" for a reason.
Needless to say, "The Shape of Punk to Come" is phenomenal. I am not much for hardcore, having burned myself out on aggressive music in my teenage years. Yet Refused struck a chord within me. Not only was it creative, but it appealed to my ideologies in a way few bands have.
Many bands I enjoy are politically liberal but are more subtle about their politics. Refused, like their instrumentation, are in your face. The vinyl edition of the album features their manifesto, written on a single page, with the tagline, “This manifesto is very much for real,” as all good manifestos should.
The defiance and phenomenal musicianship that Refused offers appeals to me to such an extent, that I coughed up seventy dollars for the privilege of seeing them in March. Will I ignore the irony of an anti-capitalist band charging seventy for a concert? Yes, I will.
Refused are the standard definition of a punk band. Anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist and pretty much anti-everything that serves the status quo. Since the dawning of punk, this has been the attitude exemplified over and over again by songs like The Clash's "White Riot," Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K." and Dead Kennedys' "Nazi Punks F*ck Off."
Nazi Punks?
Shockingly, yes. Right-wing punk bands exist in droves. One of the first ever punks, Johnny Ramone, was a famous Republican, exclaiming, "God Bless President Bush," at his eponymous band's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
John Lydon, or Johnny Rotten for the more Sex Pistol-inclined among us, has notoriously championed President-elect Donald J. Trump in recent elections, much to the disdain of former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock, amongst numerous other fans of the man who once called for the abolition of all government (within the U.K.) through his music.
This is without mentioning the numerous, fortunately less popular, neo-Nazi punk bands.
The main ideology of punk rock is anti-government. While this normally leads to more progressive viewpoints, à la Refused, it can also lead to far-right viewpoints, as they are anti-establishment and anti-government.
While most punk bands eschew ideologies of acceptance alongside their anti-establishment attitudes, conservative punk bands veer in the opposite direction, using punk as a vehicle for their hateful viewpoints.
Take a look at skinheads. The opening lines to their Encyclopedia Britannica page cite their rejection of the youthful counterculture of the 1960s, purposefully creating a movement that defied the pre-eminent youth culture of the time.
Shaved heads and leather jackets all fit into the center circle of the Venn diagram between skinheads and punks. The prominent difference was their attitude. Hatred runs rampant in skinhead culture, as they have served as "storm troopers" for Neo-Nazi organizations, committed numerous atrocities against immigrants and continually espoused bigoted and hateful mantras.
Fortunately, these people have been prosecuted and punished for their crimes. Yet, like-minded people continue to live and thrive in current society, albeit with a thin veneer of professionalism covering their intolerance.
I am not arguing for the total destruction of the government. Anarchism simply will not work. Refused, despite their anarchist views, are not just anarchists. They call for tolerance and progression. They call for a change of the status quo, a status quo that has enabled intolerant people to gain enormous amounts of power.
Continue fighting for a better future, make change for yourself and future generations. What Dennis Lyxzén screams just might be … the truth.
Samuel Seward is a senior at the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in political science and minoring in English. Seward’s column, “Dead Air,” runs on alternate Mondays.
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