Team Dresch Albums (2)
What The Critics Say
Captain, My Captain, the sophomore album from the queercore band Team Dresch, resumes where Personal Best left off two years earlier. Like Personal Best, Captain, My Captain focuses on the struggle, angst, and confusion of being a lesbian. At the same time, the album is able to transcend the lesbian cause, making universally applicable statements about individual freedom, politics, and self-respect. The following quote illustrates the superior lyrics: "My mom says she loves me but I don't think its love 'cause she only loves me when I act just like she does and that's emotional blackmail." The fierce and biting lyrics are aided by raging, skilled punk rock sounds, creating one of the most intense and meaningful punk revival albums to date. Unfortunately, Captain My Captain, which yields few innovations, is unable to surpass the high standard set by Personal Best. However, Team Dresch is still able to accomplish more in this 35 minutes than many bands can in their entire career. ~ John Hinrichsen, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Of all the punk records to come out of the 1990s, Personal Best comes closest to actually recapturing the sheer passion and rage which originally spawned the movement two decades earlier; where other bands whine on endlessly about running out of beer money or losing the right to skateboard in the park, Team Dresch confront real issues -- bigotry, oppression, religion, self-worth -- with a sense of conviction and immediacy that lays to waste everything in their path. For an album that lasts less than 25 minutes, Personal Best is a draining, relentless experience -- it explodes on contact, the cumulative result of years of pent-up anger, frustration and desperation finally allowed release. What distinguishes Team Dresch from the vast majority of their queercore compatriots is that they never put their politics ahead of their songs -- each of these ten tracks is airtight, with melodies as blistering as the lyrics. And while some songs are explicitly polemical -- "Hate the Christian Right!" would undoubtedly send Ralph Reed into apoplectic fits -- and others like "Growing Up in Springfield" are deeply personal, there's ultimately no separating the two; Personal Best is above all a call-to-arms, which in the end is exactly what a great punk record should be. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
