Review Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues (2014)

[Cosmic Harmony]

1. Transgender Dysphoria Blues
2. True Trans Soul Rebel
3. Unconditional Love
4. Drinking with the Jocks
5. Osama bin Laden as the Crucified Christ
6. ****MYLIFE666
7. Dead Friend
8. Two Coffins
9. Paralytic States
10. Black Me Out
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Against Me! is an American punk band that has been around for some fifteen years now. Prior to 2012 they were best known their lyrical and vocal intensity, their frequent use of folk influence in their music, and the modest hit "Thrash Unreal". However, once lead singer and primary songwriter Laura Jane Grace (formerly Tom Gabel) came out in 2012 they became know as the band with the transgender singer, a point that was further enforced by their title and themes of their sixth studio album "Transgender Dysphoria Blues".

Gender identity subjects are not anything new for Against Me! as they've appeared previously in tracks like "The Ocean" from 2007's "New Wave", "Searching For a Former Clarity" from the 2005 album of the same name, and even as far back as their first single "The Disco Before the Breakdown" in 2002. Until the release of "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" these songs have always been buried pretty far into Against Me's albums, usually as the last song in fact. So for the band to not only put these songs at the forefront of an album but to actually release a commercially successful album that so clearly broadcasts it's theme is pretty groundbreaking.


Except it really isn't as much as people think it is...


This is where I am going to do something a little different for this review. I'm going to split my analysis of this album into three sections so my points can be conveyed as concisely as possible.


First what this album did right...

* It succeeded. "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" was Against Me's highest charting album ever and received wide media attention and critical praise for tackling the issues it did.
* It stayed true to the band's formula of writing very personal songs that people are able to identify with. Ultimately I think energy and lyricism are the most important things for punk music and Against Me has always done both but excel particularly well in the latter as a whole.
* The band made new fans and, as far as I can see, haven't really lost any of their long term fans with what is overall a more commercially palatable album and Laura's coming out as transgender in general.
* It crafted strong parallels between transgenderism and general social outcasticm and makes the former a more relatable subject as a result.
* It's an anthemic, empowering album for people who are looking to find strength in it.


Misconceptions about this album (AKA a section where I sort of rant)....

* It's nothing new for Against Me, it's just the most outright. As previously pointed out, Against Me has been writing songs about transgender characters (which only in hindsight did they become autobiographical) for literally their entire career. So as a fan who is well versed in their catalog this entire album seems redundant not only because it is ground retread but also because it is their least eclectic album thematically.
* With the genesis of the trans-revolution (which is what I'll call it for lack of a more fitting term) within the last year or two it's been claimed that Laura Jane Grace is the first trans punk star and the first rock star to tackle gender topics in general. Not only have the likes of David Bowie, Lou Reed, Grace Jones, and numerous other used the skewing of gender in their songs and stage performances but Jayne Country who is one of the original punk rock stars was also a transwoman and came out 30+ years ago.
* Punk is probably one of the easiest genres to come out as transgender in. Many reviewers, including one at Rolling Stone, have stated how brave it was for Laura to come out very active in the the punk music scene. But really...punk and rock music in general have always been very accepting of atypical gender unlike hip-hop or country music that have reputations for being blatantly homo/transphobic. Those would be much more radical if you ask me.


And finally, what this album did wrong...

* It's safe. Against Me was initially a very raw and intense band but some of their edges did end up getting rounded out over the years, as is the case for a lot of bands. However, unlike their last two albums, "New Wave" and "White Crosses", which had more pop sensibly overall but still maintained the strong introspective and political messages the band is known for, this album removes any identifiable punk influences musically in order to be a simpler rock record.
* It's like Bob Dylan without good lyrics. What I mean by that is that when a lyricist or songwriter has something important to say it the music is secondary to the message and often times simpler or popier progressions make it more accessible to more people. Against Me usually writes their songs on acoustic instruments and then translates them into electric guitar so you end up with the lyrical emphasis of acoustic songs but the grit and energy of electric ones and that works for them. BUT if you remove a piece from the recipe then it doesn't end up right. The simpler and less poignant lyrics makes the message easier to understand and that's fine in of itself but the slower, flimsier sounding songs on this album do not lend themselves to that as gracefully as they could and should.
* The music falls flat. Unlike other albums by the band where their dynamics range from are snarling, screaming anthems to stripped down, acoustic ballads multiple times and it gives their albums a sense of movement and progression. "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" has very similar sounding songs with basically the same tempo being used for most of them. Only "Drinking with the Jocks" and "Two Coffins" actually show off the range that the band has musically but even then these two are actually the shortest songs on the album so they're more like interludes than full contributions to the album.



Ultimately, "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" is better as a stand alone album than as a part of Against Me's discography. In my opinion, while it is completely sub par to all of their other LP's and EP's I cannot say that it is a bad album because it really isn't. What I can say though is that this album is uninteresting one and that is really a much more damning word to be attached to a punk record. Even bad punk still has a snotty, "don't give a **** " element to it and it's notable because of that (or sometimes because it's just so bad that it's memorable), but punk that isn't exciting is just...not fitting for the genre.
People who are not familiar with Against Me's back catalog can and are enjoying this record just fine. They find meaning and attachment to it that I simply do not. At only 29 minutes "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" is a very quick album to listen to but it is still a chore for me to get through and I can only say that I actually enjoy two songs on it, "Drinking With The Jocks" and "Black Me Out", the latter of which was written years ago and just now ended up on an album and actually was released as the lead single. While "Black Me Out" is still one of the best songs on the album and is a poor representation of Against Me as a band it proves to be a perfect representation of the album it's from. It is a simple, mid tempo rock song with decent lyrics and if you remove the social milestone this album had for transgender individuals then that's all this record is to me front to back.

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