TheNeedleDrop’s review of 2014 album Transgender Dysphoria Blues reflects on his love for the band during his college years, detailing how he enjoyed the mixture of folk and punk, as well as how their albums from 2001-02 felt “captivating” with their punk rebellion and enjoyed how the music really felt like it stood for something. He discusses how their music wasn’t only about the politics of the world, but had a deep, personal touch. However, after signing onto a bigger record label, he felt as if they lost their raw intensity and became more tame.
He continues with the band’s story, talking about how when frontwoman Laura Jane Grace officially came out as transgender and announced an album called “Transgender Dysphoria Blues,” fans were expecting a sort of tell-all about her experiences. However, this wasn’t the focus of every song, although it clearly doesn’t try to cover up trans issues. He said the album was less for changing minds and more just expressing her experiences as a trans woman and affirming the values of people who already support the LGBTQ+ community. This isn’t a negative in his opinion, everyone likes listening to music that they agree with ideologically. The album wasn’t as “stimulating” as some of their earlier music, and he felt as if the wordy lyrics couldn’t quite hold some songs’ rhythms. He couldn’t stand the song, “Unconditional Love” because of how sugary it was, comparing it to Green Day’s typical sound. Similarly, he didn’t like the song “Two Coffins,” although his reasoning was different. The song felt emotionless, the instrumentals too rigid. Often, his criticism was that the songs’ instrumentals didn’t match the emotional lyrics. To him, the lyrics were incredibly powerful, but the instrumentals weren’t as “visceral” as the band’s previous records.
I haven’t listened to much of the band’s previous content, only having just become a fan of theirs, so I didn’t have the best frame of reference for those particular points. Despite my love for the album, I do agree with most of his points about the lack of emotions in some of the songs’ instrumentals. I had never quite noticed it until he had pointed it out, I just had songs I didn’t like. This helped me figure out why I don’t particularly like those songs.
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