Pansy Division might not be the household name among the straights they deserve to be, but amongst the queer punk community, they’re legends. Being one of the first queer punk bands to make a name for themselves in the scene, in part due to them opening for Green Day on their legendary Dookie tour in the ’90s, Pansy Division enjoy exalted status amongst the queer community.
Now, for the first time since the fall of once-great punk label Lookout Records, Pansy Division just released a new pressing of their debut album, Undresed, this one through Sounds Rad Records, an unflinching, graphic, and outright hilarious album that teaches you everything you wanted to know (and even some things you didn’t want to know at all) about gay sex.
In honor of the re-release of the over-30-year-old record, Pansy Division frontman Jon Ginoli wrote up the following track-by-track to walk us through this seminal queercore classic. Read what he had to say below.
There were gay musicians who preceded Pansy Division, but not many in rock, the kind of music we loved best. At that time, even the obvious ones weren’t out. So we thought, if no else will fess up and come out, much less sing about it, we will, and have the whole field to ourselves. We thought we had nothing to lose, so we could say what others were afraid to. And that’s how Undressed came to be. Here’s a song by song, blow by blow (ahem) rundown of the album.
Versatile: We led off our first album with this song to answer query gay guys would get (from) non-gay people: Are you the man or the woman? The answer: both! Has an excellent but very uncharacteristic guitar solo for a PD song.
Fem in a Black Leather Jacket: The quintessential PD song: Very catchy, brief (two minutes even), talking about the kind of guy I desired in no uncertain terms. The first song written for the band might be our best! Punk, but also ’60’s girl group- and Motown-influenced.
Bunnies: Undressed is a very horny album, and this catchy rocker is about two guys who do (it) like, you know, bunnies do. Written as a fantasy at the time, but much later I got to live it. One of our best-known songs.
Boyfriend Wanted: The trials and tribulations of a single gay men’s search for love. Has one reference that is historically inaccurate in the 30 years since this was released, since it was written before gay marriage was made legal.
The Story So Far: Further trials and tribulations of a single gay men’s search for love, this time about a futile attraction to a straight guy. This album is pro-gay and pro-sex and outspokenly pro-safe-sex (since it was made in the era of AIDS), but it’s not propaganda; the downsides are represented too.
Hippy Dude: Thirty years ago, San Francisco used to attract lots of cute young long-haired guys who unfortunately were there to follow the Grateful Dead, not to be gay (like I was). Of the 13 songs on this LP, this song is more of a time capsule from an earlier era than the others.
Curvature: Being in a gay rock band, so we could play it at the club I could sing about anything I wanted, so one thing I sang about were dicks, including, in this song, curved ones. Truly ground-breaking subject matter!
The Cocksucker Club: If you are a dude attracted to other dudes, at some point, you will join this club. A kind of coming out song.
Crabby Day: I got crabs from another guy and decided to light-heartedly commemorate the experience in song. I figured it would be relatable to a lot of other people.
Luck of the Draw: Written two years after I moved to SF and hadn’t found a boyfriend yet in the gay mecca. I was trying to have perspective about it, but I was lonely. Again, I figured I was not the only one having this experience (even if it felt that way), and that others could relate.
Rock & Roll Queer Bar: We re-wrote a Ramones song for a club night I was hosting at the time of the same name so we could play it at the club. Has several current (for 1991!) references to sweater queens and acid washed jeans.
Surrender Your Clothing: I was especially obsessed with getting naked with guys, so it’s really about desire as much as actual sex. Written as a sexy song. You have to know your strengths, and this turned out not to be one of mine, but I’ve met some guys who said it was their favorite PD song. Has a really good chorus.
ANTHEM: Years before I ever had a gay rock band, I thought if I formed one, it would have a song with the chorus, “We’re the buttfuckers of rock and roll/We want to sock it to your hole.” This is that song, our initial statement of purpose as a band. We knew there were a bunch of gay rock musicians that hadn’t come out yet (now all of them have), and this urged them (and anyone) to come out of the closet.
The reissue of Undressed is out now, and you can order it from Sounds Rad Records. Follow Pansy Division on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future updates.
Photo courtesy of Pansy Division
