To call Against Me!’s ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ anticipated would be a hefty understatement. To call it the follow up to one of the greatest rock albums of the last decade would be disputed, but we’re happy to go ahead and call it just that. While the scene perhaps didn’t take to the “new” Against Me! at the first time of asking with ‘New Wave’, ‘White Crosses’ is undeniably a genre classic.
After the ‘White Crosses’ touring cycle calmed and the band left their previous home of Sire Records, Against Me! had been relatively quiet until Rolling Stone Magazine broke the news that Tom Gabel was to become Laura Jane Grace, undergoing a series of gender altering treatments. The reaction to the story was overwhelmingly that of support for Grace, and it laid fresh context and meaning to much of the band’s previous work – not least the cover of ‘White Crosses’ and ‘The Ocean’ from ‘New Wave’. Grace’s craft for songwriting had wrapped this underlying truth in what appeared to be allegory, but regardless of the clues, her story was one that has and will inspire many people.
The release of a two track acoustic EP from Against Me! in 2013 was the first real sign of material from the band (both tracks on the release feature in full band form on ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’) since Gabel publicly became Grace, and it set up a pivotal moment, delivered by a heavily altered lineup. Grace has herself hinted that the band could potentially stop being Against Me! at some point after the changes in personnel, but ‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ is – without doubt – an Against Me! at heart.
The record’s lyrical content comes from the construct of a concept album about a transgender prostitute (twined in with Grace’s personal experiences), and it’s this building block that sets it off as the band’s rawest record in a long time – in no small parts down to the fact that it was produced and engineered by Grace without ‘New Wave’ and ‘White Crosses’ producer Butch Vig. That said, it’s still a clear progression from their last two records rather than a retread of ‘Reinventing Axl Rose’, and the grittier production suits the writing perfectly.
Songs like ‘Osama Bin Laden As The Crucified Christ’ – one of the band’s heaviest efforts to date – sit deliberately jarringly between a blend of classic Against Me! in ‘Drinking With The Jocks’ and ‘White Crosses’ era tracks like ‘FUCKMYLIFE666’, and for that reason it may take listeners a while to find their feet.
The standout tracks of the record are the bookending ‘Talking Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ and ‘Black Me Out’, but you really do have to immerse yourself in the whole thing a few times to feel the full impact. At 30 minutes long, the album can’t be called extensive by any means, but every song is telling a story and there’s a wealth of amazing songwriting to be found. Though Grace speaks vicariously of and through a character, the subtext is the star here, and the album is an emotional listen with a unique energy because of it.
Grace exudes passion throughout and the instrumentation is gritty, confident and un-rushed. It’s not hard to find an album that makes you happy or compels you to sing along. It is rare, though, to find an album that really makes you really feel something – one that really touches your raw emotions.
‘Transgender Dysphoria Blues’ is going to be one of the most talked about albums of the year, and for that reason it’s even better that it’s also going to take some beating as well. Laura Jane Grace has cemented her reputation as one of the world’s finest songwriters here, and it’s an essential listen for any rock music fan.
TOM AYLOTT