Refused is a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå and formed in 1991. Refused is composed of vocalist Dennis Lyxzén, guitarist Kristofer Steen, drummer David Sandström, and bassist Magnus Flagge. Guitarist Jon Brännström was a member from 1994, through reunions, until he was fired in late-2014. Their lyrics are often of a non-conformist and politically far-left nature.
On January 9, 2012, the band announced their long-awaited reunion (which was also highly contested considering the band's original and explicit declaration to never reunite), confirming shows at Coachella, Rock am Ring, Ruisrock, Roskilde Festival, Groezrock, Way Out West Festival, Sonisphere Festival (Cancelled), Download Festival, Rock for People, Primavera Sound, Hellfest, Fuji Rock Festival, Øyafestivalen, Pukkelpop, Resurrection. After embarking on a world tour for nearly a year, Refused went on hiatus again in 2012, but announced another reunion in November 2014.
The band released five EPs and three full-length albums before originally splitting up in 1998, and released their fourth full-length album Freedom on the Epitaph Records label on June 26, 2015. "Elektra" was released as the first single from the comeback album on April 27, 2015.
Refused, also known as Santa Dog '99, was released by the Residents towards the end of 1999 to celebrate the end of the millennium (using the popular, rather than mathematically correct, impression of the end of the millennium). The Residents had previously reworked the song "Fire" (aka "Santa Dog") a number of times since the release of the original single in 1972, ostensibly to give an idea of where they were musically at the time. This release compiled the past versions, a new version that had been previously available only as a download, and a number of other variations on the theme. It was released by Ralph America in a limited run of 1333 copies (1999 minus 1333 is 666, the Number of the Beast).