When Grantland writer Caleb Hannan’s story, “Dr. V’s Magical Putter,” went viral a couple weeks back, it brought the topic of transgender issues in the media to the forefront of conversation among journalists and LGBT activists alike.

Hannan’s story detailed Dr. V, the inventor of a golf putter, who had questionable credentials and a maybe not all that true résumé to back it.

Through his research and unraveling, Hannan discovers that Dr. V was a transexual woman, outing her in the process of the article. Dr. V ultimately committed suicide.

A week after the article was published, Florida punk band Against Me!’s long-awaited sixth album, “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” hit shelves, adding more to the conversation of transgender issues. In May of 2012, Against Me! lead singer Laura Jane Grace (then known to fans as Tom Gabel) came out in an interview with Rolling Stone as a transgender woman. Grace explained that she had suffered from gender dysphoria from childhood and would undergo psychotherapy for a year while considering sex reassignment surgery.

The album is the band’s follow up to 2010’s “White Crosses,” which saw the most commercial success in the band’s history, but was also criticized for its deviation from the more aggressive, less radio-friendly style found on 2002’s “Against Me! Is Reinventing Axel Rose” and subsequent releases.

“Transgender Dysphoria Blues” isn’t quite as aggressive as the band’s earlier releases and still sticks to the louder, crisper, more produced arena rock sound on “White Crosses.” The album opens with the title track, the first of 10 songs, none of which go over three and a half minutes.

The song is seemingly an introduction to the group’s new sense of purpose, opening with the line, “your tells are so obvious, shoulders too broad for a girl.”

Lyrics and songwriting have always been one of the strong points of Against Me!, driven by the impassioned vocals of Grace behind the driving punk sound.

Against Me! has always been political and ever so aware in their lyrics that always seemed to be formed in the most clever and catchiest ways, and that doesn’t change on this album.

What unfortunately doesn’t change though is the band’s evolution into a more overproduced poppy punk sound.

Songs like “Osama Bin Laden As The Crucified Christ” and “Unconditional Love” seem so outside the realm of the raw, yet relatable sound that fans were used to. However, there are still sparks of the old Against Me! aggressiveness on songs like “Drinking With the Jocks.” The LP’s shortest song, “Drinking With the Jocks” talks about a boy seemingly lying his way to fit in and just be like everybody else. Grace’s opening words, “I’m drinking with the jocks, I’m laughing at the f*****s. Just like one of the boys, swinging my d*** in my hand,” express the need of a confused teenager just trying to be “one of the boys.”

On “F***MyLife666,” the song seems to offer the best fusion of Against Me!’s newer polished sound, combined with its established songwriting, with all the makings of a slower paced punk ballad.

Against Me! is certainly headed in new directions. Without even mentioning Grace, the band has undergone numerous changes over the years, including the departure of drummer Jay Weinberg and longtime bassist Andrew Seward, so it’s impossible for the band to still be putting out the same sound they were 10 years ago. Even with the changes, “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” is certainly a step in the right direction from “White Crosses,” and shows promise for the band’s new chapter.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-2812 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.