Refused

This was worth the wait. Chronicling the last days of Sweden’s most important punk export, Refused Are Fucking Dead is an uncompromising look at a band absolutely falling apart at the seams. Touring on the brilliant and at the time, woefully unappreciated The Shape of Punk to Come, the band find themselves devoid of all passion while performing across Europe and America. The pain of these final performances is written on the face of every member and the incredibly articulate interviews that are inter-cut with the dramatic visuals create an unbelievable feeling of anxiety and helplessness. Including footage of their final show, which was shut down by the police, this short (less than 40 minutes) and to the point doc is bigger than Refused; it’s about getting lost in something that used to mean the world to you. Another interesting feature of this disc is that the band’s landmark The Shape of Punk to Come is assembled here entirely from live performances. However, unlike the top-quality live clips that are included in the actual documentary, these are all single-camera videos without board sound, making them somewhat boring and hard to listen to. The band’s two videos ("Rather be Dead” and "New Noise”) are also included, but what is really important is the doc itself; everything else is just gravy. (Burning Heart/Epitaph)