Laura Jane Grace – “Dysphoria Hoodie”

Travis Shinn

Laura Jane Grace – “Dysphoria Hoodie”

Travis Shinn

Against Me! have been on a hiatus for about a half-decade now, but bandleader Laura Jane Grace is making some very cool music on her own. Grace released her surprise EP At War With The Silverfish two years ago. Since then, she’s collaborated with people like Bloods and Tim Kasher. In the months ahead, Grace will play Gainesville’s Fest, where she’ll get the key to the city, and Flogging Molly’s cruise. She’s also got an as-yet-unannounced new album on the way. Today, she drops the first single.

The strident acoustic rager “Dysphoria Hoodie” is about getting through a hostile world by taking refuge in a much-loved article of clothing: “Stay away from the city its full of assholes/ But out in the country is where fascists roam/ Plenty reasons to fear when you don’t fit the mold/ You are my armor when facing the world.” The spartan intensity of the music recalls Against Me!’s earliest days. Here’s what Grace says about the song:

This is a song about gender dysphoria and your favorite hooded sweatshirt. Any trans person out there knows what a dysphoria hoodie is — it’s the hoodie you wear when feeling low and dysphoric and you don’t want the world reading your gender. Hide your body shape, hide your head, disappear as much as you can. Wrap yourself up in it like a blanket anywhere you go. Make your flesh become cotton. Instant protection from the outside world. My dysphoria hoodie happens to be an Adidas hoodie, so yes, this is in fact really just a tribute song to my favorite Adidas hoodie.

Check out “Dysphoria Hoodie” below.

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