Ezra Furman

A dystopian sci-fi road movie with radio-friendly hooks. A queer outlaw saga built out of digitally-compromised prog-pop-punk cries of wounded defiance. What can I say. We went all-out on this one, bursting into what became our “anti-fascist trilogy” (this album + the next two).

The “plot,” to the extent that there is one: the narrator and an angel who’s just had an operation on his wings flee an oppressive police state by automobile. Off they go across the United States, sleeping in parking lots, clinging to one another desperately, their love only growing stronger as the threat to their freedom intensifies.

But also, there are a number of songs that only peripherally have anything to do with the narrative. There’s a straight-up teenage love song (“Love You So Bad”), a song about trying to come out of the closet (“Compulsive Liar”), a song about wearing a dress in secret (“Maraschino-Red Dress $8.99 at Goodwill”), a song about not wanting to be touched but not wanting to be alone (“Come Here Get Away From Me”).

There are cellos, synthesizers, horns, huge electric guitars and sound effects swiped from uncredited YouTube videos. All in all, a defiant yet desperate kaleidoscope of gay paranoia, and a huge leap forward for me and this band.

"New production elements bolster the abandon in her words: huge, apocalyptic drums clatter behind him, buoyed on by swells of electronic bass. Transangelic Exodus folds an industrial edge into Furman’s all-American rock palette, deepening the darkness that closes in around her lyrics." Pitchfork

"Reminiscent of David Lynch’s Wild at Heart or the classic comic Preacher. Furman’s songwriting is invigorated by a headlong rush of narrative, exploring episodic shifts of tone along the way." Guardian