RefusedSure, Endless Heights sounds like a '90s soap that never quite made it, but the Sydney locals played a pretty darn decent brand of emotive post-hardcore that somehow managed to avoid being over angsty and instead came across as focused and sincere. Not bad.
Back in 1998 when Refused broke up, they could barely get arrested (if you want proof, check out the Refused Are Fucking Dead DVD). Now, a reformed Refused are considered punk rock visionaries, and unlike poor old Vincent van Gogh, the Swedes have been able to come back and enjoy their life-after-death success. Terror's Scott Vogel may think Refused are cashing in, but for the rest of us this was a revelation. Bursting out with the title track from their The Shape Of Punk To Come swansong, Refused immediately showed that they could exceed their own mystique. Not surprisingly, the band focused heavily on The Shape… LP, giving us The Refused Party Program, Summerholidays Vs Punkroutine, Liberation Frequency and Worms Of The Senses/Faculties Of The Skull and, in return, had every damned lyric screamed back at them by the majority of the audience. Older material like Rather Be Dead and Coup D'État were also rapturously received and served to remind that Refused are no one-trick pony.
Musically, the five-piece were incredibly tight with drummer David Sandström particularly impressive as the unstoppable driving force behind each chimerical bombination. Frontman Dennis Lyxzén proved himself quite the showman and added to his on stage acrobatics by walking out onto the outstretched hands of the pit dwellers down the front. By the time the opening strains of New Noise hit, everyone had pretty much lost their shit – Refused had conquered. This was perhaps the punk rock show of the year.
