''Trouble Maker'' is the ninth studio album by the American punk rock band Rancid, released on June 9, 2017. Like many of Rancid's albums, ''Trouble Maker'' was produced by

Epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

founder and Bad Religion guitarist

Brett Gurewitz Brett W. Gurewitz (born May 12, 1962), nicknamed Mr. Brett, is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and a number of sister labels. He has produced albums f ...

, and marks the band's first album since their 1993 self-titled debut to feature the original Rancid logo on the cover. The band recorded the album between December 2015 and January 2017 at Big Bad Sound, Sunset Sound, and Red Star.

Reception

''Trouble Maker'' received mixed reviews upon its release.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

writer Tim Sendra rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of five and called it "exactly what a Rancid fan would expect a Rancid album to sound like, which is both a blessing and a curse." He continued, "The former because if classic Rancid is what you need to fulfill your punk rock longings, as always they deliver the requisite gutter chants, spiky attitude, and spit-covered microphones. The latter because at this point the Rancid sound can't help but feel a little too safe and sanitized, especially given the sparkling production

gives to the album. It may be a little late in the game to expect the band to do anything but give the fans exactly what they want, or what the band thinks they want, but it's not too much to ask for songs that have a bit less studio gloss and a little more fire and grit."

Background and recording

Originally Rancid intended to record an EPs worth of material in December 2015. The tracks written solely by Tim were meant for Tim's second solo album which was recorded with Matt on bass and Joey Castillo on drums. Upon hearing the tracks Brett Gurewitz suggested Rancid go back into the studio and use these towards a new Rancid album.

Track listing

Personnel

Rancid *

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup Transplants. ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s *

Lars Frederiksen Lars Erik Frederiksen (born Lars Erik Dapello, August 30, 1971) is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist and vocalist for the punk rock band Rancid, as well as the frontman of Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards and ...

– guitars, vocals *

Matt Freeman Matthew "McCall" Freeman (born Roger Matthew Freeman; April 23, 1966) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his bass work with the punk rock bands Operation Ivy, Rancid and as the frontman of Devil's Brigade. ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, vocals *

Branden Steineckert Branden Steineckert (born April 21, 1978) is the drummer for the punk rock band Rancid and a founding member and previous drummer of the Used. Biography Steineckert is an avid soccer fan and supporter of Real Salt Lake, a Major League S ...

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Studio musicians *Kevin Bivona - organ, keyboards *The Interrupters - backing vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Rancid (band) albums Epitaph Records albums Hellcat Records albums