Following up their commercial hit, White Crosses, Against Me! has released an EP, True Trans, a lead up to their full length album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues. And if the EP is any indication of the full length, Against Me! fans are going to be in for a change. All that anger, rage, and disappointment, seems to have dispersed into melodic heartbreak.
The last 18 months have inspired the lyrics of this EP, but it's not anything new for the band. Laura Jane Grace has always used life as a reference point, from lyrics to music videos, see: music video to "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" based on her arrest in her teenage years.
The message of wanting acceptance, love, and positivity for who you are, something touched upon in both songs on this EP, is a theme that has run through Laura Jane Grace's other songs, see: "Ache With Me", "Thrash Unreal", "The Disco Before The Breakdown", "Joy", etc.
The sarcasm of songs past seems to be missing, no longer hiding the messages in the lyrics, see: "The Ocean", and that thrashing sound of guitars and noise has been stripped down to a folks-y sound. Even more so than Reinventing the Axl Rose, think more Heart Burns.
"FuckMyLife666", the lead track on this EP (and apparently named by a 14 year old), sounds like a more mature version of songs past, "Don't want to live without teeth/Don't want to die without bite", just going all out and not taking the hits as they come but actually doing something about it. Laura Jane Grace may have just penned my second favorite line ever sung (First being the closing lines of "Thrash Unreal". I don't care that it's their "new" stuff, its amazing).
As for "True Trans Rebel Soul", I don't think I can listen to this song in public, I might cry. It is a cliched song, no doubt about it, but there's a reason why cliches exist. They are the simplest way to express a feeling, an event, anything, on a universal level so that anyone can understand. Transgender dysmorphia is something few can related to, but the simplicity of Laura Jane Grace's lyrics really gets to the root of looking for love and acceptance as the verses goes on. It's like reading a page from her diary, or anyone's really, and all I want to do is hug them. Because whether it's God, as the song mentions, or anyone else, everyone's true trans rebel soul should be loved. And I'm really hoping who ever the narrator of this song is (whether it's Laura Jane Grace) or someone else, is loved.
Laura Jane Grace is going on a small tour to promote the full length before it is released, check tour dates here to see if she is stopping by your town.
And listen to the EP here: