Review: On its sixth full-length, Against Me! finds clarity

Transgender Dysphoria Blues is the product of more than two years of songwriting, a pair of lineup changes, and a recurring battle with progress. It’s the end result — or, perhaps, a single milestone — of Laura Jane Grace’s personal journey, one that has since evolved into something much more public.

Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ 10 tracks have circulated as staples of the band’s live set or as alternate versions for as many as two years. They’ve become familiar, which, despite having excited audiences during live performances, removes the sense of discovery that should come from hearing an album for the first time. At the same time, in creating Transgender Dysphoria Blues so transparently (not just through live performances, but through dozens of candid interviews as well), Against Me! has effectively revealed the painstaking, sometimes sacrificial process that led to its completion.

The album’s setbacks are numerous, which certainly accounts for the delays. Against Me! released White Crosses in 2010, then practically disbanded. Drummer George Rebelo rejoined Hot Water Music. Longtime bassist Andrew Seward departed to tend to his family at home. Rebelo’s replacement Jay Weinberg quit without notice, his only recorded contributions having appeared on an interim two-song seven-inch. Adding insult to injury, during a hurricane, a falling tree destroyed Grace’s St. Augustine, Florida recording studio. Transgender Dysphoria Blues, an album recorded at four studios, shows a fairly disparate construction, as a result.

Against Me! is a three-piece for the first time on the self-released Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Atom Willard (Rocket From the Crypt) is credited as the band's drummer, and Fat Mike (NOFX) played bass on two of these tracks, but the bulk of the work that is represented here was done by Laura Jane Grace and James Bowman.

Photo by Ryan Russell.

The album's production isn't entirely consistent, but it is acceptable. Veteran producer Butch Vig produced the band's two previous full-lengths, but is absent here. Grace herself assisted with the engineering, and she produced the album as well. While a song like “Paralytic States” is layered with memorable leads, “Dead Friend” feels like a demo, completely understating the dual-guitar approach Against Me! usually excels at. And though the obnoxious psychedelic tones of “Osama Bin Laden as the Crucified Christ” are out of character, the tastefully acoustic-driven “Two Coffins” is a welcome return to form.

Photo by Anthony Glaser.

The record’s lyrical themes are generally unlike anything found in all of contemporary punk, let alone popular rock, and part of this comes from Grace’s willingness to be so unreserved about her struggles with gender identity. The album’s opening lines are, “Your tells are so obvious. Shoulders too broad for a girl.” Grace shifts from second to first and third-person perspectives, but half of the songs on Transgender Dysphoria Blues are critical self examinations, which is brought to a literal sense in “Paralytic States” — “Standing naked in front of that hotel bathroom mirror, in her dysphoria’s reflection she still saw her mother’s son.”


This isn’t a biographical concept album, and there is no overarching narrative, but themes of identity resonate in most of these songs, even in those that aren’t explicitly related to being a transgendered woman. “Drinking with the Jocks” is a crass song about formerly attempting to relate to bro culture, and “Black Me Out” closes the record with assertive declarations about refusing to compromise yourself for the benefit of those close to you. Grace writes material that is deeply personal and often tragic, but within that material there is something relatable.

On “True Trans Soul Rebel,” Grace wonders if God blesses her “transsexual heart,” and in the same song, she summarizes her inner conflict as “making yourself up as you go along.” Grace’s experiences are undoubtedly her own, but some of those experiences — like struggling to become the person you envision — are universally shared, regardless of gender.

Transgender Dysphoria Blues is Against Me!’s least cohesive full-length, and at 29 minutes in length, it doesn’t fully develop all of its ideas. Even so, it’s a confessional, heartfelt record with a unique point of view and affecting subject matter.

7/10