against me!: transgender dysphoria blues

out january 21

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. FUCKMYLIFE666
7. Dead Friend
8. Two Coffins
9. Paralytic States
10. Black Me Out

first song was just released, "fuckmylife666": https://soundcloud.com/totaltreblemusic/fuckmylife666

:D

:D

Well that's gross

http://i3.sndcdn.com/artworks-000062514120-f4ica6-t500x500.jpg

looks like a slice of cake to me

not sure if electrified FUCKMYLIFE666 improves on the original, sounds weirdly compressed, but could just be bad soundcloud quality

still, fucking pumped for this

hahaha i love it and didn't post it here bc kinda nsfw

the album art, i mean

breast meat cube

if ya'll havent yet the original FUCKMYLIFE666 is so beautiful, laura jane's voice is front and center in the mix and sounds amazing as usual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWP_-rSxBbU

i like that they're going slick with the production still

also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcHJWBagcsw

i like that they're going slick with the production still

agreed. also i think soundcloud compressed it a lot bc it sounds fine on itunes

I'm in on this. All in.

AM! records have always been produced slick

"Drinking with the Jocks"

!!!

well i guess butch vig slick is pretty distinct from j robbins slick

haha i think my definition of 'slick' and 'not-slick' AM! was formed from repeatedly listening to AM! demo tapes in high school

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8uxNTuSMLY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bezwtQnnYg

on some days my favorite version of 'walking is still honest' tbh. true story: i had an ipad nano engraved w/ lyrics from it, lol emo me

wikipedia says laura jane is producing this

the most poorly produced AM! record in the modern era is new wave imo, which is weird because butch vig then did a great job w/ white crosses

I love the production on that early stuff (really I am referring more to Axl Rose than that demo tape), the more recent comparatively-glossy sound leaves me cold.

yeah axl rose is impeccable. still sounds so great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lN6ofLkgEg

love the clean guitar tone here

so is the "True Trans Soul Rebel" use of the "who's going to pick you up?" line a kind of re-write, response counterspin to this hardcore classic?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9SVG4gBuOk

I mean, laura jane must know that song.

Or am I speculating?

no drew! i had that exact same thought

glad i'm not the only one who picked up on it! thought i was going crazy

Against Me! - New Wave lol

https://soundcloud.com/totaltreblemusic/against-me-black-me-out

BLACK ME OUT
I WANNA PISS ON THE WALLS OF YOUR HOUSE
I WANNA CHOP THOSE BRASS RINGS
OFF YOUR FAT FUCKING FINGERS

otm

This sounds great.

this rules

Argh god dammit. Hitting the entire state of Florida but not coming to Philly :(

Haha well they're from Florida

Have mentioned it before and in other AM! threads but the best show of my life was seeing them at the church

yep -- Ft Lauderdale in a month!

a vinyl rip of this is out there

it rules

paralytic states!

Gonna wait til the release date

But in anticipation of this I took a selfie

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9627011/pphotos/AMWDYLL.jpg

beautiful

YOU MAKE ME WANT TO SMOKE CIGARETTES
YOU MAKE ME WANT TO DRINK WHISKEY

EVEN IF YOUR LOVE WAS UNCONDITIONAL
IT STILL WOULDN'T BE ENOUGH TO SAVE ME

what's up, does god bless your transsexual heart http://www.npr.org/2014/01/12/261095666/first-listen-against-me-transgender-dysphoria-blues

Twenty-six minutes!

is it idk, thoughtless or inappropriate to talk about how/whether laura jane grace's voice has changed at all between albums?

unless you're implying that her transition is impacting her voice (which is like biologically not the case) uh, not really, but is there anything to say other than it's gotten cleaner over the last few records?

"biologically" definitely a terrible word for me to use in any conversation about this, i'm gonna grab another coffee

lex : Paramore's S/T :: me : this album

don't know if i did it right, don't care, you get the point

Although I didn't really take to Paramore's S/T on the first listen either, so I should love this by the third or fourth listen.

This album is fantastic

When was the last time a punk album captured the feeling of marginalization this persuasively? Feels like ages since I've heard an album nail it like this

That's probably due to how (North American) punk is as dominated by straight white dudes as any other guitar-centric genre.

i've never listened to this band but this is great

"FUCKMYLIFE666" is such a terrible song title though

i've never listened to this band but you're wrong

this record is completely gorgeous

Yeah

Fuck me, this album

I haven't gotten around to disentangling songcraft from context and personal resonance yet, but I really love this.

damn good

hey this is p good!

v good

two coffins

i'm disappointed by this, i think it's the production

i need to listen to it more though

production is a little... off. can't really tell why. the guitars just sometimes arbitrarily bury the drums

i love this record 100 percent tho, surprising no one

I have one AM! song, the one they did with either Tegan or Sara, and I've listened to it a million times lol

Production is really harsh, hard to listen to loudly which I really want to do.

I tried to warn y'all about the production upthread

Don't listen to the vinyl rip, get the CD or iTunes

In the end I'm not gonna quibble over the production in a statement record like this

The True Trans EP has the best production I've ever heard in an AM! record

Is spotify the vinyl rip? May buy on iTunes anyway.

Oh I don't know, but it sounds better than the vinyl rip

Agree that it still sounds 'weirdly compressed' per my post upthread

Maura: http://www.emusic.com/music-news/review/album/against-me-transgender-dysphoria-blues/

Also feeling really bad that I didn't nominate FUCKMYLIFE666 for the tracks poll this year

Probably wouldn't have placed anyway :\

it might make a killing in the 2014 poll tbf

this was much much better than I expected it to be & really well-written. basically yeah, go team AM

I want to vote for the acoustic version though : (

In the Rolling Stone interview, Grace spoke about how certain aspects of being in Against Me! made her feel increasingly pushed toward performing “this role of ‘angry white man in a punk band,’” and this album’s no-nonsense look at who Grace is now is an open rebuke to being shoved in that box.

This makes so much sense - always saw "I Was a Teenage Anarchist" as a repudiation of "Baby, I'm an Anarchist!" and now this album is sort of the complete metamorphosis from that identity, didn't know the stakes were so much larger but looking back it couldn't be more obvious

If I adore this album what other Against Me! should I check first?

i like white crosses + new wave so far both more than this album ymmv etc

ughh can't wait to hear this

I love WC and New Wave about the same, Tim, but this album is closer to singer-songwriter rock with a good rhythm section than a band effort, if that makes sense.

Yeah it does

new wave has kind of a wobbly second half but even then i can never decide if i prefer white crosses or not

new wave is sort of an ultimate gleaming alt rock record while white crosses has all these cute '70s rock references that also thread seamlessly into the actual songs

the production on "dead friend" is almost muted-like? to some extent i think it's a good ex of form following content + creates a sense of distance but also idk a lot of this album lacks some of the immediacy + attack of the other two i love. the title track is the big exception to that (and seems like the best song on the album to me). i also like 'osama bin laden as the crucified christ' a lot.

ok this is really good; "Black Me Out" in particular is a get-your-lighters out anthem, like I want Bono to cover it at Red Rocks and wave a flag

I want Grace to wrap Bono in the flag and set him on fire.

black him out

wow "Black Me Out" is so good, just listening again & again & again

I want Grace to wrap Bono in the flag and set him on fire.

― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, January 23, 2014 3:35 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

man this sounds bad, and not even my usual grouching about overmastered records way (though it is)

it just sounds muddy like...a local band

the vinyl rip is awful

cd is only slightly better. but better

Agreed on the production but *shrug*

WHITE CROSSED over NEW WAVE for me

Production on NEW WAVE is also terrible fwiw. WHITE CROSSES is the only modern era AM! where they nailed it

Against Me! have been reportedly working on Transgender Dysphoria Blues in their own Total Treble Studio since February, with breaks to play out and to speak on camera about Grace's progress. While Butch Vig produced the band's last two LPs, Seward says Grace is, "recording the whole thing herself. Engineering, producing, (building) the studio — full-on everything."

I bet she has no hearing left. AM! shows are fucking loud

This record is so fuckin' great, just yes. I actually thought White Crosses was a minor dip in quality after New Wave, but I emphasize the minor part. This is probably the perfect length, actually.

Does anyone else get a strong noted ILXor band Aerosmith vibe on "FUCKMYLIFE666"?

this is so great

the production does strike me as kinda thin or something, all punch and no kick, but i get it

"unconditional love" and the title track are the immediate slayers here for me

beautiful album

Laura Jane Grace has just done an AMA on Reddit.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/1x6vt7/hi_im_laura_jane_grace_ask_me_anything/

love that they played "FUCKMYLIFE666" on Letterman, such a good performance

oh look, an aeroboot shout-out :)

AS IF YOU WERE MY FUCKING PIMP
AS IF I WAS YOUR FUCKING WHORE

First great album of 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q4XJI8B1BI

Ugh this is so good

oh wow, that's tremendous

gainst
tremendo
me
ridically

From LJG's AMA:

Both "The Disco Before The Breakdown" and "Tonight We're Going To Give It 35%" are about gender dysphoria.

Thought of these two songs when the news first broke but wasn't sure

If you follow the jaw line down over the heart,
the curves of your bone and muscle that make up your head to toe...
It's just skin and thread, stitches and ligaments,
words that we spoke only to regret.

And I know they're going to laugh at us
when they, when they see us out together "holding hands" like this.
They wouldn't understand it if we told them all the reasons,
not that I think this deserves any kind of explanation.

And we'll, we'll make it up so we've got a smile painted on all the time,
no matter what it's like on the inside.
We'll keep this, keep us like a secret,
cause if my family and friends ever found out about
the things we could never be,
haunts we'll all keep, so fucking bittersweet.

And I know they're going to laugh at us
when they, when they see us out together "holding hands" like this.
They wouldn't understand it if we told them all the reasons,
not that I think this deserves any kind of explanation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7sZpebvcFw

first listen this morning. devastating and exhilarating both, so great. speaking mostly of the lyrics and vocal performance. music is catchy and all, but i suspect it may wear thin.

favorites on the first pass:

2. True Trans Soul Rebel
3. Unconditional Love
4. Drinking With the Jocks
5. Osama Bin Laden As the Crucified Christ
7. Dead Friend

whole thing must run under 30 min

that lyric video, omg ... amazing

great record

yow, yeah, that's a hell of a thing (it's the sun in my eyes, i swear).

and after a couple more passes, the pop simplicity of the tunes is wearing quite well. could really have used this album circa 1986 tho.

like this better than either of the butch vig albums, and tho i still prefer the sound of axl rose, this is immeasurably more moving

"FUCKMYLIFE666" is such a terrible song title though

― crüt, Tuesday, January 14, 2014 3:35 PM (4 weeks ago)

cmon, that's fabulous muscles-level great

okay, i fucking LOVE this album. dug it at first, with a few reservations, but now almost every song is my favorite. and the others are pretty okay too. i want to sing along, but when i do, i get too choked up to follow through, which only makes me love it all the more. nice to love something so unabashedly (and successfully) POP.

so if I buy this on CD does it come with lyrics?

FYI the 1st tack on the CD is mastered at -0.1 DB (I threw the radio station copy into a wav editor to make s clean version)

The vinyl does, so I assume the CD would as well.

Yeah it does

That album title is giving me the Redundancy Dysphoria Blues.

nah, it's perfect

I thought the "Blues" part is redundant with dysphoria there already until I realized "transgender dysphoria" is the official diagnosis and now I'm cool with the whole tittle.

or title even

I made a quickly forgotten mental note to look for writing about this album by transgender women after someone asked about it on twitter or somewhere, but I just came across this:

http://youngist.org/post/77692828622/laura-jane-grace-crucified-trans-woman#.Uwtm0w1Gs_4.twitter

thanks for passing that on, thoughtful.

http://i.imgur.com/mJSOwym.jpg

lol

:D

going to see them tonight, very excited! bringing earplugs...

that was great, have they always played several songs from Axl Rose? really happy that the 2nd guitar dude nailed all the backing vox in the bridge to "Unconditional Love"

total rock and roll heaven

touring w/ gaslight anthem (!!!)

i totally can't afford the ticket lol

i didn't look -how much?

for 9:30 club they were $40, and they sold out fast--a great show to be sure, but the steep price put me off of being interested.

i would even have winced and paid 35 but 40 for a non-arena big rock club show is ridiculous to me

large hoos that is but the difference of five dollars

um also JEW apparently and they're playing at the Mann in philly? feeling like i really want to go...

HOOS, how big is the venue? Against Me play a small club west of Ft Lauderdale at least twice a year and never charge more than $25.

Think I paid like $6 back in 02 or 03

large hoos that is but the difference of five dollars

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Monday, September 8, 2014 10:38 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

but le sarge where does it end my man

where does it end

classic

AOTY for me, easily.

"large hoos" lol

the raggett neds of your summer dress

i love returning to an album after several months, and that you've only heard a few times, and it seems hardwired into your DNA

i would even have winced and paid 35 but 40 for a non-arena big rock club show is ridiculous to me

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, September 8, 2014 9:08 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

large hoos that is but the difference of five dollars

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Monday, September 8, 2014 10:38 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ftr i bought a pair for sleater kinney at the same club at the price quoted above

i regret nothing

Definitely the best rock record to come out this year. Like White Crosses and New Wave.

the trax poll brought me here. amazing record.

http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/blog/laura-jane-grace-on-the-problem-with-pronouns?utm_source=noiseytwitteruk

there was a nice piece i thought at noisey the other day that was like "how i learned to stop worrying and love against me! (again)" about how this fan had gotten off the bandwagon after axl rose but came back into the fold with TDB, really thoughtful read on like "being a AM fan" i thought

I don't really know Against Me! that well, but I wanted to share this local story that I thought was a really nice thing the band did.

on their last tour they took Venus De Mars as an opening act. Venus is a local Minneapolis legend of sorts, she's 55 now, the article says didn't come out as transgender until her 30s, but was known for years locally as the frontwomen for All The Pretty Horses, a sort of punk/glam/metal band that played locally here for many years. Anyway the state audited her for filing as a musician and came after her for back taxes, resulting in a lengthy legal battle (which she eventually won but after a lot of expenses)

anyway i guess Against Me! took her out as an opening act recently which i dunno struck me as a really nice gesture, certainly bigger shows & presumably bigger paydays than Venus has ever seen in doing music for a few decades.

here's the story:

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/298162101.html?page=1&c=y

The auditors essentially said that the $20,000 or so that Venus averaged per year in her music career — her only source of income — was not enough for her to call herself a professional musician.

(raises middle finger)

yeah a couple years ago the state auditors really seemed to go after the arts community, a recording studio a friend worked at was forced out of business because they suddenly reclassified the type of service that recording studios were and went after them for back sales taxes. of course, faced with fighting it legally...or losing and having to pay the back taxes...given the small tough margins that studios are under these days anyway they just folded :(

meanwhile we dish out zillions to local sports teams for stadiums! assholes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TaRnUKgr9g

http://substreammagazine.com/2015/05/watch-laura-jane-grace-joan-jett-and-miley-cyrus-cover-the-replacements-androgynous/

!

LJG on Orlando:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzL0bD0_r6Y

Update, now that I've seen the whole thing: only the first couple of minutes are about Orlando. The rest is about trans issues, the N. Carolina bathroom idiocy, etc but still a really good interview.

New album streaming, seeing LJG tonight in a small club:

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/01/661158897/first-listen-laura-jane-grace-the-devouring-mothers-bought-to-rot

Good one played with the band at last night's show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC08TfB0fxg

wow, four years since this album

almost five now!

literally a life-changing record for me

oh shit, you're right!

For a lot of people, I imagine.

xp

FUCKMYLIFE666 still the best fuckin' rock song ever

literally a life-changing record for me

― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, November 9, 2018 11:28 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah yeah me too

“Is your mother proud of your eyelashes?” rips me apart

yeah yeah me too

― Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix), Saturday, November 10, 2018 4:21 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

<3

Best album.

yes just a great record

I like this one from the new album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ0__vF3bUk

this album kinda rules!

oh it very much rules

this album def rules

here's Ezra Furman playing "Black Me Out" btw

https://www.facebook.com/ezrafurmanmusic/videos/1139327736411316/

sorry 4 facebook

New LJG album produced by Albini

https://pitchfork.com/news/laura-jane-grace-surprise-releases-new-album-stay-alive-listen/

Went to see Austin Lucas play a couple of weeks ago, he said his next album will be an Against Me! covers LP.