refused

This is the evolution of hardcore.

As the new century’s first decade unwound, things evolved or deteriorated rapidly, depending on your perspective. The entire world was changing in every aspect. So of course, punk rock was gonna change with it. The fundamentalists would scream and moan about how these changes weren’t punk at all, that we needed to go back to […]

Misfits are the very model of an influential punk band. Which was most likely not Glenn Danzig’s goal when he formed them in 1977 in his native Lodi, New Jersey, naming them for Marilyn Monroe’s final film from 1961. After initially being driven by Danzig’s distorted electric piano, Misfits became known for sludgy power chords […]

The ‘90s was the moment when the experiments wrestled control of the laboratory away from the scientists. Suddenly, punk rock — the ragged step-sibling of rock and pop — was squarely in the mainstream of culture, after years of ruling the underground. It spawned alternative music and the latter’s most successful subthread, grunge. Grunge was […]

After touring for the better part of 20 years, Matt Caughthran is a seasoned road warrior who is best known as the vocalist for Los Angeles-based punk group the Bronx. He has traveled the world and delivered high-intensity performances,  inspiring legions of fans and bands along the way. For the last two decades, Caughthran has […]

If you’re looking for evidence of the breadth and depth of Tom Morello’s talents as a guitar player, consider this. Prior to a guest appearance at the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California, with the E Street Band, he was told by Bruce Springsteen that that evening’s performance of “The Ghost Of Tom Joad” would be […]

On Friday, Nov. 5, Los Angeles hosted what could be argued as the biggest event metal and hard rock has seen in this decade so far. The event was none other than Knotfest, the traveling roadshow curated and headlined by metal legends Slipknot, who brought with them an incredible roster of bands and artists who […]

Holy Wars have released a new music video for their latest single “GET MINE.” The new track is just a taste of what is to come from their highly anticipated debut full-length, EAT IT UP/SPIT IT OUT, which drops in early 2022.  Read more: Fall Out Boy release ‘Evening Out With Your Girlfriend’ for streaming […]

Tom Morello and Bring Me The Horizon have joined forces on “Let’s Get The Party Started.” The track is the latest single from Morello’s upcoming album, The Atlas Underground Fire, out Oct. 15. The track is the third release from the album, following the Phantogram-featured “Driving To Texas” and Morello’s collab with Bruce Springsteen and […]

Top 15 punk albums of 1998? You’d be forgiven for thinking that there weren’t any in the year the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal dominated the news. A quick perusal of Billboard’s Hot 100 singles of the year sees domination by several R&B (Destiny’s Child, Janet Jackson, Usher, Mariah Carey) or hip-hop (Puff Daddy, Master P, […]

Welcome to Alternative Press’ 10 best punk vocalists of the ‘00s. When we counted down that decade’s finest punk guitarists, we noted that the beginning of the new century was a turning point. The ‘90s began with Nirvana breaking down the door for punk-influenced alternative acts to become the mainstream music of the decade, peaked […]

1996: President Bill Clinton was squaring off against Kansas Sen. Bob Dole in a successful bid for a second term in the White House. On April 3, former math professor Ted Kaczynski was arrested in his remote Montana cabin, suspected (correctly, it turns out) to be American domestic terrorist the Unabomber. Conservative public policy bulwark […]

As we exited the ’90s and entered the new millennium, pop divas, prefabricated boy bands and rappers bragging about conspicuous consumption and how poorly they treated women ruled the airwaves. Meanwhile, what passed for “rock” was the white guys who beat you up in high school P.E. class who’d discovered hip-hop and figured it’d sound […]

1998 really wasn’t that long ago, but after saying the number 2021 out loud, it feels like it happened during another lifetime. To put things in perspective, Billie Eilish was born three years after 1998, and, hell, even FINNEAS was born the year before. Despite the fact that said year was toward the end of […]

When pub-rock singer Joe Strummer of the 101ers first met with former London SS guitarist Mick Jones in 1976 to brainstorm material for a new band eventually named the Clash, Strummer was shown one of his songs, “I’m So Bored With You.” He wasn’t having it: “‘Ere, let’s rewrite this now!” The rather wimpy romantic […]

Everybody’s favorite genre to have opinions about, nü metal shortly peaked as an object of global obsession. Not unlike the finale of Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer, the scene got ravaged by the collective madness of its own stans. Which fairly contributed to the creation of negative biases toward nü metal we’ve grown to […]

Already evolved from its origins yet not as crystalized as the 2000s wave in its sound, post-hardcore in the ’90s was a special kind of life form. These guitar intros will help you find your way into this unique decade for the genre. Check them out below. Read more: Joey Santiago still likes the idea […]

Here’s a book idea. Somebody should write one called Your Fans Suck. The potential author’s first phone call would have to be to the members of Refused. When the iconic Swedish hardcore unit had their acclaimed 1998 LP The Shape Of Punk To Come released, it was universally reviled. Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzén explained to […]

In 1998, Refused challenged the expectations of anyone who ever identified with a Strummer lyric or spun a Ramones record. Their acclaimed third album, The Shape Of Punk To Come, is a complete deconstruction of the punk-rock genre. Bouncing magnificently from avant-garde free jazz to slam dance-fodder hardcore, Refused turned punk into everything they thought […]