Recorded during Against Me!’s yearlong 2014 world tour, 23 Live Sex Acts opens with frontwoman Laura Jane Grace imploring, “Let’s fuck shit up.” That m.o. has been at the core of the punk band’s existence since 1997, but something its six studio albums never quite captured. Here, the raw emotion in Grace’s voice isn’t diluted or smoothed out; her rage and vibrancy are front and center, and not just in song—she cuts “New Wave” short to berate a security guard who kicks out a kid for apparently dancing and having a good time. The tracklist runs the gamut of AM!’s career and includes old favorites “Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong,” “Miami” and “Thrash Unreal,” as well as the more recent “White Crosses,” “FuckMyLife666” and “Transgender Dysphoria Blues.” A particularly poignant moment comes during “I Was A Teenage Anarchist” when the crowd roars along with Grace, “The revolution was a lie!” Yes, it was. But as Against Me! has proven, the truth is out there.
—Jeanne Fury
