Source: Album Artwork
Against Me!’s 2014 Transgender Dysphoria Blues was pivotal – an explosion of pent up uncertainty and anxiety, the culmination of years of struggling with gender dysphoria and longing for the freedom that comes with living as your authentic self. Two years later, the bold arrival of their seventh album Shape Shift With Me shows Laura Jane Grace in her element, navigating the challenges of everyday life, love and relationships as a trans woman. By writing predominantly about love and longing, Grace destroys punk’s political expectations, because the personal is political. It’s ruthless punk to the core – the defiant yells of a gender anarchist, not giving a shit about expectations, embracing her sexuality and tearing down gender roles. At heart, it’s about empowering yourself, so “come on, shape shift with me, what have you got to lose? Fuck it”.
Kickstarting with the riotous fury of ‘Pro Vision L-3’ leaves you frenzied to hear the next eleven tracks. Grace’s invigorating chants and the crash of Atom Willard’s explosive drum parts have you ready to kick tables over and rebel – punk’s far from dead, Against Me! have got that covered. The title refers to airport surveillance body scanners which can ‘out’ and be a nightmare for trans individuals. It’s a blistering opening anthem that calls out the general invasiveness of society towards trans people.
Love and relationships can be frustrating at times, even more so when you’re crippled by the dysphoria of dating someone who treats you like “some dumb fucking boyfriend” and invalidates your gender identity. Everyone deserves to feel empowered by their sexuality, and ‘Boyfriend’ voices a trans woman’s perspective on dating and the difficulties that come along with it – something we don’t hear enough.
It’s difficult to resist the urge to stop and play ‘Crash’ on a loop. Grace and James Bowman’s infectious riffs make it one of the album’s high points, with the lyrics “let me stay up in your orbit a while” perfectly capturing the impulse to hit replay and orbit the track over and over again.
Inge Johansson’s bass riffs rumble continuously in the background of the unsettling ‘Delicate, Petite & Other Things I’ll Never Be’, much like the references to the dull ache of Grace’s dysphoria which linger throughout the twelve tracks. Longing for a human connection but feeling undeserving of love are at the albums core, the lyrics “I wanna be more real than all the others, I wanna be more real than all the rest” are howled by Grace, as she battles with the prospect of new relationship dynamics and feelings of unworthiness.
Shape Shift With Me adopts a crucial perspective – a trans voice that refuses to be silenced. Punk is about being real, and following Against Me!’s progression to an emotionally open and personal seventh album, Grace couldn’t be more real if she tried. Calling out transphobia, setting fire to misconceptions, and being honest about the highs and lows of love, sex and heartbreak empowers anyone, gender variant or otherwise, that can relate to her personal experiences. Need we say it? Against Me! and their gender punk politics, are important as hell.
