If punk rock is the sound of society’s frayed nerves catching fire, then Agender’s third album Berserk is the all-out inferno. Clocking in at a merciless 23 minutes across 10 tracks, this LP doesn’t just bite—it mauls. These LA-based provocateurs have forged a frantic riot about the dizzying absurdity of 21st-century life. Produced by Romy Hoffman (the band’s fiery frontwoman) and David Scott Stone (LCD Soundsystem), Berserk is a sucker-punch of everything rock music should be, that kind that hits like an air hammer to the chest.
Agender isn’t making noise; they’re on a mission to destroy everything bland. Leading the charge is Romy Hoffman, the Australian-born author of Agender’s chaos, whose guitar work is so incisive it could cut diamonds, and vocals like a sympathetic drill sergeant barking orders in your face. Bassist Cristy Michel’s bass frequencies are so heavy they could sink a battleship, while drummer Christy Greenwood beats her drums like she’s trying to wake the dead. Synth wizard Sara Rivas is the wildcard, throwing neon lightning bolts all over the place like some kind of disco Gandalf on acid.
Hoffman’s pedigree is punk royalty: a former teen guitarist in Ben Lee’s Noise Addict, a trailblazing rapper (as Macromantics), and a DJ spinning L.A.’s queer underground. But Agender is her magnum opus—a project born from sobriety and spite, evolving from a solo outlet in 2011 to this ferocious four-piece. Berserk isn’t just their third album; it’s their manifesto, a “schizo-synth-punk” tantrum against a world where self-care collides with late-stage capitalism and every Instagram scroll feels like a cry for help.
Berserk doesn’t stick to one lane—it swerves, crashes, and lights the road on fire. Opener “Life Is Acid” is a jittery synth-punk sprint, Hoffman’s vocals dripping with sarcasm as Rivas’ keys warp into a fever dream. “Damaged Girls” follows with Michel’s bass prowling around like some kind of feral alley cat, while Greenwood’s drums snap into a militaristic groove. Then there’s “Dissonant Disco,” where Agender mutates into a CBGB house band playing a rave in the Upside Down—Rivas’ synths squelch and shriek, Hoffman’s guitar slashes like broken glass, and the beat-section locks into a funky groove.
But the crown jewel is “Action Reaction,” the album’s bruising centerpiece. Its music video—a stark, DIY affair shot in Hermosa Beach—captures the song’s push-pull tension: Hoffman monotones verses like a detached oracle before erupting into a chorus that’s weirdly sweet, like a fistfight in a bubblegum factory. Directed by Hoffman and Rivas, the video’s black-and-white bleakness is all about feeling like you’re drowning in modern life, with the Pacific Ocean standing in for all that anxiety we’re swimming in these days.
Agender doesn’t do subtlety. Berserk is a searing critique of everything from love addiction (“Jeans”) to consumerist gluttony (“Things Things Things”) and the existential circus of self-optimization. Hoffman’s lyrics—written pre-Trump and pre-California wildfires—feel eerily prophetic, dissecting a culture where “doing the work” is just another commodity. “Everyone’s trying to improve, but there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism,” she sneers, wrapping the dilemma in hooks so catchy they’re almost treasonous.
Tracks like “I Need a Break From the U.S.A” and “Logo” are punk haikus—brief, blistering, and brutally efficient. The former is an 85-second meltdown of revved-up guitars and anti-patriotic exhaustion; the latter a synth-punk jab at brand culture, with Rivas’ keys buzzing like a malfunctioning ATM. Even at its most melodic (“Youth”), Berserk refuses to coddle. This is music for people who are sick of it all, who see through the malarkey, and who just want to scream their lungs out at a world that’s screaming right back.
Agender’s genius lies in their ability to make insanity feel good. Berserk isn’t just pointing at the madness —it’s a participation trophy. Hoffman sounds like she’s reading the news with zero emotion, while Michel and Greenwood’s rhythms make you want to punch a wall. And Rivas on the synths feels like she’s playing the soundtrack to society’s meltdown – you can dance to it, but you might also lose your mind. Mastered by Shellac’s Bob Weston, the album’s production is rugged but never sloppy—a calculated dissonance that matches its themes. Stone’s mixing on “Life Is Acid” feels like grabbing a live wire, while Spencer Hartling’s work on “Vacuums” turns Greenwood’s drums into a heartbeat from hell. You ever feel like your phone’s out to get you? Like every little ding is the world ending? Agender’s Berserk is the soundtrack we deserve. Clocking in at under 24 minutes, it’s a grenade with the pin pulled—no filler, all fury.
Catch Agender tearing it live at Zebulon in LA on March 28 (with Muscle Beach and Allison Wolfe), but don’t you dare sleep on this record. Berserk isn’t only 2025’s most vital punk album—it’s a survival guide for the terminally online, a love letter to Los Angeles’ smog-filled skies, and proof that sometimes, the only way to stay sane is to go gloriously, unapologetically mad. Berserk is out now. Stream it, scream to it, then go smash something. Go Agender!