I was reading about baseball on the internet this morning. It’s a little habit I’ve picked up over the years. In my reading, I stumbled across the fact that Milwaukee Brewers closer John Axford had fans vote for his entrance music using the internet websites Facebook and Twitter. Not only that, but due to some distinguished gentleman’s excellent online suggestion, Refused’s New Noise became part of that ballot, going on to win the contest and becoming Axford’s official big scary song of intimidation. This makes John Axford substantially more awesome than even his own mustache could possibly imagine.
What wonderful news to be learning about almost a full year after the fact. The timing actually works out pretty well, considering I didn’t have this killer blog back then and would have had a lesser platform to voice my excitement. Now all 20-to-30 of you can know how much I approve of all this. Refused is really a very good band. They’re so good that I’m able to champion their cause now the same I did when I was 16 years old and not feel a single pang of embarrassment. Thank God Axford didn’t pick an AFI or Taking Back Sunday song.
You can check out the real life baseball version of it here, but really, the above video is so much better, both in terms of audio as well as visual stimuli. It’s an all-timer, and I really can’t believe these happenings slipped my radar. I’ve long contended that New Noise would make the perfect closer entrance music, and it warms my heart to an extremely comfortable temperature knowing that the song is being utilized as such. Just listen to it. It’s accessible and catchy, while remaining just esoteric enough to be charming rather than annoying. The buildup and crescendo is so perfect for a closer walking to the mound that if I didn’t know those Vegan Straight Edge Anarcho Hardcorde Swedes any better I’d think they were baseball fans. They actually would probably really hate this were it ever brought to their attention, but let’s not let that get in the way of our fun. The moral here, I believe, is that while the Internet is capable of both blinding brilliance as well as the darkest of absolute evil, the former has prevailed here.
Refused Are Fucking Dead. Long Live Refused. John Axford Is Not Dead. Long Live John Axford.
The Trance of Waiting 