I’ve developed a new hobby of late, in which I troll around on Bandcamp late at night searching for anything that’s been tagged as “transcore” or “queercore.” Personally, I just think that the world needs a lot more punk from LGBTQ artists. And that’s how I stumbled upon the ferocious acoustic folk-punk stylings of Wren, Like the Bird, whose debut EP, Uncertain Transitions: The Brief Life of THEY/THEM, deals with some of the harsher truths of being transgender with a brutal, heartbreaking honesty.

The EP starts out with “Girlhood,” a real heart-wrencher about the common feeling amongst trans people that we missed out on experiencing our childhood as our correct gender. This is immediately followed by the song “Transmisogynistic State of Mind (Get Off My TERF).” For those who aren’t familiar with the term TERF, it stands for “trans exclusionary radical feminists,” meaning “feminists” who refuse to acknowledge trans people as their preferred gender identity. It’s an experience that a lot of trans people deal with, and Wren delivers a scathing diatribe against these scourges of the queer world. “Am/Not (Defining Yourself)” and “Uncertain Transitions” take us on a trip of fear and uncertainty that defines the path to finding yourself as a transgender person. “Brand New Songs (Finding Yourself)” continues the theme of the rocky road of finding one’s own trans identity, but closes out the EP on a note of brightness and hope for the future of that journey.

Wren, Like the Bird is still starting her journey as a singer/songwriter, but Uncertain Transitions is the debut EP of someone who clearly has a ton of potential. Her style can be abrasive at times, and vulnerable at others, and it’s those two traits that make her an artist to look out for.