 
It is safe to say that over the years the life
of Against Me! Has been one hell of a rollercoaster
ride, the band found themselves being signed to
Fat Mike’s Fat Wreck Chords back in the
early days and since then they have been on a
journey which has seen many band members come
and go and also many record labels come and go,
they signed to Sire Records back in 2007 and went
on the release the Butch Vig produced ‘New
Wave’ and then the outstanding ‘White
Crosses’ in 2010 but it was after the touring
cycle for ‘White Crosses’ where things
started to fall apart for Against Me! As they
parted with Sire Records and George Rebelo also
departed the band and then after months of silence
Rolling Stone Magazine broke the news that front
man Tom Gabel was to become Laura Jane Grace,
the reaction to the news was so positive for Laura
Jane Grace and from that moment she started working
on material for the bands sixth studio album ‘Transgender
Dysphoria Blues’.
‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ has
been one of the most anticipated punk albums in
a long time and back in May 2013 Against Me! put
out a 2 track acoustic EP titled ‘True Trans’
which featured the songs ‘FuckMyLife666’
and ‘True Trans Soul Rebel’ and the
songs were such early workings that they featured
just Laura Jane Grace on acoustic guitar whilst
singing her heart out and gave the fans a slight
insight into what direction Against Me! were heading
in and now 8 months after the release of ‘True
Trans’ the album ‘Transgender Dysphria
Blues’ is here.
Musically ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’
is exactly what you would expect from Against
Me! it is a full on fast paced punk rock assault
whilst lyrically things are different as the majority
of the album is extremely personal to Laura Jane
Grace as she sings about the changes in her life
whilst also touching on Osama Bin Laden and various
other topics making up the rawest sounding Against
Me! Album in a very long time.
The album opens with ‘Talking Transgender
Dyphoria Blues’ which happens to be one
of the strongest sounding tracks on the album,
the song just oozes in raw punk rock attitude
as the band come charging at you with massive
riffs as Laura Jane Grace let’s rip with
her big in your face vocals with a melodic edge.
Lyrically the song is hard hitting with Laura
Jane Grace singing about realising you are in
the wrong body with lyrics of “Your teels
are so obvious, shoulders to broad for a girl,
keeps you, reminded, helps you remember where
you come from” and also “You’ve
got no cunt in your strut, you’ve got no
hips to shake, and you know it’s obvious
but we can’t choose how we’re made’.
It’s great to hear the full band versions
of ‘True Trans Soul Rebel’ and also
‘FuckMyLife666’ both songs are instrumentally
amazing and pretty damn catchy but it is the lyrics
from the ‘True Trans Soul Rebel’ which
really hit you as Laura Jane Grace sings “You
should’ve been a mother, you should’ve
been a wife, you should’ve been gone from
here years ago, You should be living a different
life”.
‘Unconditional Love’ has a big country
music vibe running throughout it and happens to
be one hell of a bouncy repetitive song. ‘Drinking
With The Jocks’ is a big chant-a-long anthem
which is going to see a sea of fists in the air
at future live shows as thousands of fans chant
“All my life, all my life”. ‘Osama
Bin Laden As The Crucified Christ” is really
heavy and see’s Laura Jane Grace take a
slightly different approach with her vocals as
she screams out “You’re gonna hang
like Benito from the Esso rafters hang like Glover
with the skull caved in, hang like a cross around
my neck, you’re gonna hang, you’re
gonna hang”.
It’s amazing how Against Me! can turn such
a depressing topic into such an upbeat song and
that is exactly what they have done with ‘Dead
Friends’ a song which addresses losing people
far too soon, musically the song is extremely
bouncy and catchy and lyrically things are well
written and will bring a few tears to your eyes
if you take the time to take each and every lyrics
in as you remember all the loved one’s you
have lost.
The album comes to a close with the epic ‘Black
Me Out’ the song is easily the best track
on the album and is a big blast at greedy record
labels who are out to make a quick bit of money
and dump you the moment you’re not making
them the money they expected and the song flows
with punk rock attitude from start to finish.
It is safe to say that ‘Transgender Dysphoria
Blues’ is the most important album of Against
Me’s! Career so far, it is also going to
be one of the most talked about albums for years
to come for various different reasons and so far
it is the best album I have heard of 2014, I know
we are still in the first month of the year but
I really can’t see many bands topping the
sheer honesty and punk rock feeling of this album.
5/5
Review by Trigger
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