CDVS: Pitch Black Vs. Refused

Punk rock has always been less about the swagger and more about defiance, usually opting for self-righteousness over self-importance. But, on occasion, someone from the rag-tag set will mount the high horse and indulge itself a moment or two of conceit, blurring the lines between irony and cocksure (and, no, we're not talking about the Darkness).

This get-a-load-of-us attitude comes to mind at first look at the declarative album titles from two punk-rooted acts: Pitch Black's new This is the Modern Sound, and Refused's seminal The Shape of Punk to Come. On both efforts, their bands attempt to transcend the traditional, bare-boned hardcore approach through a more calculated production approach, complex song structures, choruses with more than two chords that frequently veer toward dissonance and a refreshing sense of ambition.

Before Modern Sound, Pitch Black was known for its spookcore aesthetic both on record and onstage, recalling pre-major-label era AFI. On its second album, Pitch Black eschews most of the macabre, opting for a less fringe and more rock-based sound. Modern Sound boasts a punk foundation, for sure, but it is adorn with prominent keyboards, layered vocal harmonies and decorative touches through instruments such as the cello and the cowbell. As it turns out, it's neither timely nor distinct; bands such as At the Drive-In and the (International) Noise Conspiracy boasted a similar--albeit more groove-laden--post-punk design around the turn of the millennium. That said strident yet tense numbers like "Mine Shafts and the Laws of Gravity" and "Love Lock" grow more absorbent with every listen.

Speaking of the (International) Noise Conspiracy, that band's frontman, Dennis Lyxzen, made a name for himself through Refused, a Swedish hardcore act that upended punk's straightforwardness with unconventional time signatures, strings and jazz-oriented elements. It disbanded in 1998, but not before unleashing its most elaborate work, The Shape of Punk to Come, an audacious album designation if there ever was one. The funny thing is, its visionary dementia was hardly trendsetting; Slint and A Minor Threat had more to do with the exploding emo-punk scene, and hardcore took a turn for the metallic. However, it did strike a nerve with the more exploratory aesthetes of the indie and hardcore underground (think the Blood Brothers), reinforcing punk as an embodiment of spirit rather than sound, and re-characterizing Shape as a product of arrogance to one of idealism.--Mike Prevatt