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