Artist: PowderPaint (@powderpaint), which is Shonalika (@shonalika, they/them) and Hazel (@hazel, they/she)
Why? Have you ever wondered what would happen if time-traveling goth queers went back to the 80s to start a synth-pop band? Powderpaint is all this and more, and are perfect for navigating the cyberpunk dystopia we all live in.
Where to start?
Their most recent single is an absolute banger and hits me in the trans feels hard. Also, in the music video, it's a hoot seeing Shonalika switch out their usual black clothes for white and Hazel's bright aesthetics for black and red. 😁
I also want to highlight their song "Constellation," which I'm pretty sure is a tribute to polyamorous queer love. The idea of my extended polycule as a constellation...gives me such heartwarming joy:
"in my constellation these are my stars
and we know where we are
so don't be afraid to make the sky brighter
cos what's another light in the dark"
Why? If you're like me and in a bit of a mood, Superknova's music often captures that perfectly. It's like walking under an umbrella through the streets of a city on a rainy day, mixed with the angst of queer struggle.
Where to start?
"Glitter and Blood" is one of my favorites and a good introduction to her music. Honestly, kinda what every bit of writing I do feels like to me, "painting the walls with glitter and blood."
Her most recent release, "Seatbelts," really feels like a tribute to the quiet, vulnerable love of the long-distance t4t relationship so many of us experience. It also brings me back to the moments of longing and heartbreak I've gone through in the last month or so, in a good way.
Why? Lauren's voice and lyrics are something that hooks me and I find playing in my head afterwards in the best way possible. This is made all the better by a definite skill for underlining and punctuating lyrics with the guitar. Love their indie rock with a punk edge and poetic meter.
Where to start?
"They/them/theirs" is the song I first encountered them through and I found myself listening to it on repeat. Like an anthem for the nonbinary soul trying to persist and insist on being seen.
This hook especially rhymes with my soul:
"You are fighting between a rock and why bother
We are floating between two ends that don’t matter"
"Trust Your Gut" is part of their latest album, with Atom Willard on drums (a solid bandmate of many in the scene including Laura Jane Grace with Against Me), and fuck is it a feel right now for me. For all of us broken people navigating what it means to be with people and a part of this world.
"Warm Blanket" is also a freaking mood for me right now. And this music video showcases dancers that are somehow communicating what my depression and heartbreak feels like through dance...which I did not expect 😅
Why? Because this is the kind of folk-y emo punk that I can't help but come back to again and again and again. Unapologetically queer and feminist, with lyrics that you can't help but let turn into earworms. You can also hear how she keeps working on her sound as the years have gone on.
Where to start?
"Gender is Boring" is the kind of awkward, ranty song that the trans heart can't help but sing.
As someone who didn't grow up knowing she was actually a girl, the first verse always hits hard, which ends with:
"Gender never really meant that much to me
Til' people started telling me how it was supposed to be
Til' the people that I loved started to say
Boys don't talk that way
Boys don't dress that way
Boys don't act that way"
"Kill the Boy Band" is a manifesto criticizing the boring and uncreative music created by the endless cishet guy dominated underground scenes, and the need for radically inclusive and expansive musical acts
Also, I didn't know I needed it until I heard it, but a folk punk cover of Rilo Kiley's "The Execution of All Things" is the perfect version of this song in my mind.
Back when I thought I would always be visibly trans and queer, the song "Nvr Pass" encouraged me so much. And now that I accidentally pass more often than not, I still love the unapologetic queer ethos because this will always be true for me:
"So I'll probably never pass
Seems more like hiding than being who I am
And I'll probably never pass
I'd rather live my life visibly trans"
Why? Shawna's music as actually had a quiet but meaningful impact in trans communities and literature. More than once I've seen a concert of hers or mention of her pop up in a short story, and there's a reason. Her music captures the joys and struggles of a community on the margins in a way that often only folk or country music can.
Where to start?
"Gender Armageddon" is one of my favorites. It is a tight, well-written, and energetic song that releases something from inside many of us.
It has also been on my mind a lot this last week. The story the song tells parallels a loss and trauma in my own life, and the way the boy those moments centers around comes back to me in my dreams.
Why? Flummox confounds genre and conventions in their music. While their songs always come at you hard, they often remind me of a much more queer or punk Primus, mixing a metal core with elements of funk, punk, and other genres.
Where to start?
Honestly, one of my favorite recordings of theirs is a live E.P. set. Something Flummox astounds me with is that even in live recordings, they somehow balance and mix their sound perfectly so that no part is lost but all is there in full. And this live performance really highlights that: https://youtu.be/TuPOualU60A?t=86
Of course, I think Flummox made their biggest splash a few years ago with "Trans Girls Need Guns." This one feels like someone jazzed up stoner metal that explodes into hardcore punk. Not to mention, a pretty solid thesis to the song 😈🤘
Because I need to "keep my body moving" as Tunde says, and their music helps me move on a Monday morning.
Where to start?
The song that told me I would fall in love with Tunde's music was the first song on their album of the same name, "Transgressor." They sing about breaking through walls, but keeping a brick to remind them of things they've done. If that's not trans power, I don't know what is.
As I mentioned, if you need to get yourself moving this Monday, I suggest "Keep Your Body Moving." It is an irrepressible dance beat that will get you up out of your seat.
Why?
To make up for this oversight, I am going to remind you all that Dorian Electra has a new album coming out and their new music is absolute fire.
Where to start?
"Sodom and Gomorrah" was exactly the energy we all needed for Pride this year.
It features amazing lyrics like this verse:
"I wanna know what they did to make him bring his wrath (Ah, ah)
Yeah, I wanna know what they did, can you show me with that ass?"
Their most recent release, "Anon," actually has been one I've chewed on a bit because I'm still not sure I have a read on it despite having hooked into my brain
One thing to keep an eye on with all of Dorian's music videos is the head smash. In every single music video, they smash at least one object on their head. It started with coffee pots and drinking glasses. They continue to find new objects to utterly destroy by smashing it on their head.
Another note on "Anon," I can't help but see the fashion as a statement on the maximalist evolution of their music from one of their earlier bangers, "Career Boy" (https://youtu.be/MDDukLyXY-M)
Also also, am I the only one that somehow gets intensely masculine vibes from their stereotypically "feminine" outfits? And sometimes more feminine vibes from their "masculine" outfits? Their power for gender inversion just blows my mind.
Why? While they may have split up for now, Girlpool's music is something that keeps re-emerging for me. Towards the start of their career, the sound might remind you more of the 90s and 00s indie scene, but their style was restless and traveled into spaces that are haunting and intimate, frivolous and lively.
I also would suggest people check out the interview with Avery on the Gender Reveal podcast. Tuck and Avery go to some interesting places, both about music and trans life, that I've chewed on for a while. This includes our relationship to our voices and what it means to reckon with the footprint your pre-transition self has left our your life and career.
Both Avery Tucker and Harmony Tividad's voices have evolved over time, and it is interesting to see how both of them adapted as each other's creative directions evolved.
To get a sense of their most recent album, I suggest "Lie Love Lullaby>" It has a really good hook to it, and give you a sense of how Avery adapted his voice over transition too.
Also, #Trans friends, especially #TransMasc folks, could you comment to this post about some other trans masc and trans men musical artists you love and songs of theirs that speak to you?
I have a few that I go back to again and again, but I feel like I need to expand my rotation of transmasc musicians/singers and want to share more here for #TransMusicMonday. I'm especially curious about music that maybe speaks to you all in the intimate ways some of my favorite trans fems can do.
Why? Non-binary Icon. Formerly, the Archandroid. Music videos dripping in Pansexual Polyamory and odes to sapphic love. Monae has been a pillar of queer music for a decade They just dropped a new music video for her new upcoming album. And it is Black queer joy at it's best.
Where to start?
"Lipstick Lover" is her new single and they are out here just loving on themselves and their sexuality.
Also, a reminder that they've always been a gender non-conforming legend, "Tightrope" is now over a decade old and still my "get me energized and excited" song.
#TransMusicMonday
Here's a Belgian band called K's Choice, the singer Sam Bettens is a transgender man and came out in 2019. I've known this band for a while, I've still got their 1998 album 'Cocoon Crash' somewhere. Decided to check out their new music. I like this song.