Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Transgender Dysphoria Blues is the sixth studio album by the American punk rock band Against Me!. The album was released on January 21, 2014 by Total Treble Music and Xtra Mile Recordings. The album deals with gender dysphoria, following Laura Jane Grace's gender transition and coming out.[2][3]

Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Studio album by
Against Me!
ReleasedJanuary 21, 2014[1]
RecordedTotal Treble Studios, Elkton, Florida
Studio 606, Los Angeles, California
Earthsound Recording, Valdosta, GA
Motor Studios, San Francisco, CA
GenrePunk rock, queercore
Length28:43
LabelTotal Treble, Xtra Mile
ProducerLaura Jane Grace
Against Me! chronology
Black Crosses
(2011)		 Transgender Dysphoria Blues
(2014)		 23 Live Sex Acts
(2015)
Singles from Transgender Dysphoria Blues
  1. "True Trans"
    Released: July 12, 2013
  2. "Unconditional Love"
    Released: May 26, 2014
  3. "Osama bin Laden as the Crucified Christ"
    Released: April 18, 2015
Alternate cover
Censored version

Recording history

The band first announced work on a new album in November 2011[4] The first sessions for the album were a false start, where the band started recording some basic tracks and then went on tour, and decided to scrap and start over when they got back from tour. Then, the record was completely recorded except for vocals when drummer Jay Weinberg quit the band. The band first tried to have fill-in drummer Atom Willard record drum tracks to match the previously recorded tracks, but it wasn't working.[5] Starting from scratch, the band began recording the album a final time at Studio 606 in February 2013.[6] In May 2013, long-time bassist Andrew Seward also left the band.[7] A month later, Fat Mike of NOFX joined the band in the studio,[8] playing on three songs, two of which appear on the album. That same month, tracking for the album was completed.[9]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.8/10[10]
Metacritic82/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
The A.V. ClubB+[13]
Chicago Tribune[14]
Entertainment WeeklyB[15]
The Guardian[16]
NME7/10[17]
Pitchfork7.5/10[18]
Q[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
Spin8/10[21]

Will Hermes of Rolling Stone rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, and called it "A series of bracing songs about a self-destructive girl in a boy's body, it's a thematic offspring of Lou Reed (see Berlin, etc.)", and noted how "it takes balls to come out this way, in this genre" wishing Laura "God-speed, sister."[20] Also, Hermes said that the album musically "sticks to the band's established brand of warrior-cry punk metal", and this "limits the range of what might be an ever braver new world, one glimpsed on the softer acoustic 'Two Coffins.'"[20]

Loudwire ranked the album 23 in their "66 best rock albums of the decade" in November 2019

Accolades
Publication Rank List
American Songwriter 20 Top 50 Albums of 2014[22]
Consequence of Sound 6 Top 50 Albums of 2014 [23]
Noisey 2 TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2014[24]
PopMatters 6 The 80 Best Albums of 2014[25]
Rolling Stone 15 50 Best Albums of 2014[26]
Spin 14 50 Best Albums of 2014[27]
Stereogum 14 The 50 Best Albums of 2014[28]
TIME 7 Top 10 Best Albums of 2014[29]
The Village Voice 10 Pazz+Jop Albums of 2014[30]

Commercial performance

The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 23, their highest debut yet on the chart.[31] It also debuted at No. 6 on Top Rock Albums,[32] with 10,000 copies sold in its first week. It has sold 45,000 copies in the United States as of August 2016.[33]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Laura Jane Grace.

No.TitleLength
1."Transgender Dysphoria Blues" (often erroneously titled "Talking Transgender Dysphoria Blues")3:16
2."True Trans Soul Rebel"3:12
3."Unconditional Love"2:51
4."Drinking with the Jocks"1:48
5."Osama bin Laden as the Crucified Christ"2:57
6."FUCKMYLIFE666"2:56
7."Dead Friend"3:02
8."Two Coffins"2:20
9."Paralytic States" (also known as "Paralytic States of Dependency"[34])3:12
10."Black Me Out"3:09
Total length:28:43

Personnel

Band

Additional musicians

Production and design

Charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[35] 89
US Billboard 200[36] 23
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[37] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[38] 6
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[39] 2
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gollark: If a task which used to take 100ms takes 50ms now, that's a 50% improvement but I may not even notice.
gollark: There are diminishing returns too.
gollark: That's definitely true.
gollark: If you compare large supercomputers to my phone I think you might be about right.

References
  1. Grow, Kory (24 October 2013). "Against Me!'s 'Transgender Dysphoria Blues' Gets a Release Date". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  2. Ehrlich, Brenna (2 July 2013). "Against Me! Frontwoman Laura Jane Grace Announces Solo Shows". MTV. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  3. Martins, Chris (5 November 2012). "Against Me! Promise 'Transgender Dysphoria Blues' Will 'Absolutely Destroy'". Spin. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  4. "Against Me! beginning work on next album". Punknews.org. November 29, 2011. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  5. Tedder, Michael (January 16, 2014). "Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! on the Tortured Path to 'Transgender Dysphoria Blues'". Spin. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  6. "Against Me! Begin Record New LP; Atom Willard Tracking Drums". Property of Zach. February 4, 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  7. Blistein, Jon (May 2, 2013). "Against Me! Bassist Andrew Seward Quits Band". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  8. "Fat Mike (NOFX) and Atom Willard (The Hell) to record on new Against Me! record". Punknews.org. June 3, 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  9. Obenschain, Philip (June 24, 2013). "Against Me! finish tracking new album, 'Transgender Dysphoria Blues'". Alternative Press. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  10. "Transgender Dysphoria Blues by Against Me! reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  11. "Reviews for Transgender Dysphoria Blues by Against Me!". Metacritic. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
  12. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Transgender Dysphoria Blues – Against Me!". AllMusic. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
  13. Heller, Jason (January 21, 2014). "On its new album, Against Me! examines the fluidity of identity". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  14. Kot, Greg (February 10, 2014). "Review: Against Me! singer chronicles her transgender blues". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  15. Smith, Grady; Catucci, Nick; Anderson, Kyle (January 30, 2014). "Albums: Jan. 31/Feb. 7, 2014". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  16. Hanson, John (January 16, 2014). "Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues – review". The Guardian. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  17. Cooper, Leonie (January 17, 2014). "Against Me! – 'Transgender Dysphoria Blues'". NME. Archived from the original on January 23, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  18. Larson, Jeremy D. (January 24, 2014). "Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  19. "Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues". Q (332): 107. March 2014.
  20. Hermes, Will (January 21, 2014). "Transgender Dysphoria Blues". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  21. Weiss, Dan (January 17, 2014). "Against Me! Challenge Old Fans and Mint New Ones With 'Transgender Dysphoria Blues'". Spin. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  22. American Songwriter (November 24, 2014). "American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums of 2014". American Songwriter. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  23. "Top 50 Albums of 2014". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  24. "Noisey's Top 25 Albums of 2014: 10 to 1 | NOISEY". NOISEY. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  25. PopMatters (January 18, 2016). "The 80 Best Albums of 2014". PopMatters. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  26. Rolling Stone Staff (December 1, 2014). "50 Best Albums of 2014". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  27. SPIN Staff (December 9, 2014). "Spin's 50 Best Albums of 2014". SPIN. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  28. Stereogum (December 2, 2014). "The 50 Best Albums of 2014". Stereogum. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  29. TIME (December 3, 2014). "TIME's Top 10 Best Albums of 2014". TIME. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  30. "New York News, Food, Culture and Events | Village Voice". Village Voice. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  31. Keith Caulfield (January 31, 2014). "Chart Moves: Against Me!'s Highest Charting Album, Sara Bareilles' Grammy Gain". Billboard.
  32. "Top Rock Albums: February 8, 2014". Billboard.
  33. "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016.
  34. "BMI : Repertoire Search". Broadcast Music, Inc. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  35. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 3 February 2014" (PDF) (1249). Australian Recording Industry Association. Pandora Archive. February 3, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  36. "Against Me! Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  37. "Against Me! Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  38. "Against Me! Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  39. "Against Me! Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
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