AGENDER – L.A.’s Flamboyant Post-Punk Daredevils Go ‘BERSERK’ On Their 3rd Album
18 March 2025
Photo credit: Lindsey Byrnes
Band: AGENDER
Who: Initially formed in 2011 as a solo punk excursion for Melbourne-born
Romy Hoffman, Agender was born when she decided to get sober. Since then,
the queer post-punk outfit has now become a full-fledged quartet. with Hoffman,
the focal point as the primary writer in the group.
It’s hard to put Agender into any box. The L.A. four-piece make schizo, synthy, paranoid, post-punk with a dash of dysmorphic desire. And fans? They revel in their sweeping existential terror that comes with a fetish for femininity.
New album: BESERK
Their 3rd one following debut Fixations (2014)
and sophomore one No Nostalgia (2022).
Press Info: At its core, Berserk is a frenetic response to the shifting tides of life.
An album that is unapologetically queer and embodies the chaos of an era where
nothing feels stable, where the self is both the center of its own universe and being
sucked into the disorienting orbit of a hyper-connected, hyper-consumptive culture.
Fiery and fully charged, Berserk tackle themes like love addiction, abandonment wounds, consumerism and aging, as the ever-present tension between self-empowerment and capitalist exploitation permeate the tracks.
Hoffman: “Everyone’s trying to improve, to ‘do the work,’ but the conundrum is:
there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism. This album is a snapshot of that
dilemma, wrapped in something catchy enough to make you want to dance–or
scream–a solution. “
TUTV: This is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most exciting-striking-electrifying records I heard all year. Not one dull moment. The cliché All killers, no fillers is definitely accurate here. Hoffman‘s vivacious vision to mix post-punk, garage rock, amplified bubblegum pop, rap and roll hubbub, synth pizazz and turning it all into a non-stop rumbustious party is quite remarkable.
My ears hear echoes of Gang Of Four‘s staccato guitar riffs, early Talking Heads‘ punk funkiness, Devo‘s witty electro madness and the in-your-face flamboyance of female British indie legends The Slits. Awesomely cool, right? You betcha. Listen world, stand up and fight for your right to go berserk to Agender‘s pyrotechnics. One more thing: don’t forget to give the middle-finger to all LGBTQ haters. Fuck them.
Singles: Action Reaction / Jeans / Things Things
– THINGS THINGS THINGS –
– JEANS –
– ACTION REACTION –
STREAM/BUY ALBUM
