Dennis Remsing, drummer with California hardcore band Outspoken, told us all about Refused “The Shape of Punk to Come" from their album The Shape of Punk to Come…
Dennis Remsing: Every musician has that one album that reignites their creative spark and reminds them how moving and powerful music can be. The Shape of Punk to Come by Refused is that album for me. More specifically, the drumming of David Sandström showed me how you can push the envelope while maintaining a foundation in hardcore music.
On the title track “The Shape of Punk to Come”, David’s drumming is an exciting combination of punk and dance beats with jazz accents throughout. The opening beat perfectly compliments the guitar riff. It gives you the feeling that you’re marching towards something explosive. As the song continues to build, the drums get a little more complex while slowly gaining intensity leading up to the first peak in the song where everything kicks in. From that point, the song takes off in a fury. The four-on-the-floor drum beat creates the perfect driving momentum as each snare hit aligns with the guitar.
As the song takes some turns throughout the verses, the drums continue to compliment the riffs with continuous surprise moments. None of which are overdone. Every fill, every hi hat accent, every crash feels deliberate and always serves the song. The iconic drum fill at minute 3:10 is a perfect example. There’s a break right before it where the guitar is building tension with the main riff. From the moment David starts playing that fill, it feels like a bomb goes off. From that point it’s total chaos as David’s playing continues to get more bombastic with each beat. I’ve listened to that part of the song at least 100 times over the years and it still floors me. True drumming perfection.
For music that’s generally loud and hard hitting, the groove is often lost. That’s not the case with David. He manages to play hard throughout while maintaining the groove. There’s a swing to his style that I truly appreciate.
Back in the ‘90s, I met David while he was on tour with Refused in California. The first thing he said to me was “Hey, I stole something from you.” It was startling at first but he quickly explained that he was referring to a drum part I played on an Outspoken song. What I find interesting about that memory is how it shows inspiration can work in circles. What started as an inspiration for him became a brick in the foundation for something that would later inspire me.
Outspoken's remastered 1993 album The Current is out now.
Outspoken photo by Veronika Reinert
