This is How You Do a Live Album
Live albums are hit or miss. At worst, you’re stuck listening to your favorite band play sloppier versions of songs drowned out by the screams of people able to be at a show you couldn’t make it to. At best bands are able to use a live album to give fans a deeper glimpse into their sound and passion for their music, with raw, genuine versions of their songs. On 23 Live Sex Acts, Against Me! has proven that they are capable of producing the latter tenfold. It’s really no surprise though. Last year’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues was one of the best records of the year…of the decade…just of all time. Tackling a topic that has been widely ignored by mainstream punk rhetoric, the album is a landmark release in punk and in music in general. With that kind of energy backing them up, Against Me! was in a perfect position to provide fans a good long look at their entire career that had built them up to that moment. And they certainly succeeded on 23 Live Sex Acts.
The tour that this album was recorded on immediately followed the release of Transgender Dysphoria Blues, so naturally the record covers a number of songs from that album including “FUCKMYLIFE666,” “True Trans Soul Rebel” and “Black Me Out.” But 23 Live Sex Acts also includes older beloved songs like “I Was a Teenage Anarchist,” and in the instance of songs like “Pretty Girls (The Mover),” singer Laura Jane Grace gives insight into these songs that fans may have had no idea about.
Midway through “New Wave,” Grace stops the song to defend a kid being kicked out of the venue (through context we can assume it’s for climbing on the stage or dancing too hard, though it is not explicitly disclosed), claiming that if the person got kicked out, the security guard was going to have to get up and play guitar for her. By prioritizing the audience over a perfect rendition of a song, Grace reminds everyone what punk is all about – creating a community where everyone can have a good time and get a little rowdy once in a while. One of the most musically powerful moments on the album comes shortly after, with the dramatic “Turn Those Clapping Hands Into Angry Balled Fists,” showcasing the art that can be done just with choices about track list order.
One of the most powerful parts of any live record, when done well, is the inclusion of the excitement of the audience. A happy “whoop!” or a well timed scream can accentuate an already emotion-filled song, and Live Sex Acts is full of them. The synchronized clapping from the crowd at the beginning of “Don’t Lose Touch,” is bound to give a goosebump or two. The album ends perfectly with “We Laugh At Danger and Break All the Rules,” where you can hear everyone singing along and might very well catch yourself doing the same. An absolutely flawless song choice, “We Laugh at Danger…” neatly and passionately sums up everything that is great about this album and about Against Me! on a whole.
Upon the announcement of its release, 23 Live Sex Acts claimed to be the most comprehensive look into their live experience, and in both song choice and overall attitude, it does just that. Including songs that made a bunch of punks fall in love with them nearly 20 years ago as well as the tracks that blew our minds only last year, Against Me! has made the ideal live album, a full retrospective on their iconic career. It’s bound to please any fan, new or old, as well as intrigue someone who has never heard them before. This is how you do a live album.
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