against me!: transgender dysphoria blues

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.