''We Can Do Anything'' is the ninth studio album by U.S. band

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 2004 ...

, released March 4, 2016. It is the band's first studio album since 2000's ''

Freak Magnet ''Freak Magnet'' is a studio album by Violent Femmes, released in 2000. It contains the single "Sleepwalkin'". Originally scheduled for a 1998 release on Interscope Records, ''Freak Magnet'' was pulled when the band was dropped from the label. A ...

.'' “We Can Do Anything” features Boston-based drummer,

Brian Viglione Brian Viglione (born May 16, 1979, in Greenville, New Hampshire) is an American drummer best known for his work with The Dresden Dolls and Violent Femmes. He was also a prominent member of New York City's cabaret punk orchestra The World/Inferno F ...

, best known for his work with

The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; ad ...

Artwork

The cover artwork is by

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...

multi-instrumentalist

Kevin Hearn Kevin Neil Hearn (born July 3, 1969) is a Canadian musician who is a member of Barenaked Ladies, and his own group, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle. He primarily plays keyboards and guitars. He is also a member of Rheostatics. Early life Hearn was ...

, with whom Violent Femmes toured in 2015.

Reception

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' described the album as one that "ebbs and flows, but in the end, it has enough going for it to merit its existence".

Track listing

Personnel

Violent Femmes *

Gordon Gano Gordon James Gano (born June 7, 1963) is an American musician widely known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter of American folk punk band Violent Femmes. Early life Gano was born in New York City to actor parents Norman and Faye Gano, and gr ...

– lead vocals, guitars, violin, banjo *

Brian Ritchie Brian Ritchie (born November 21, 1960) is the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Violent Femmes. Ritchie was born and raised in the United States and is currently a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, with his full-time residence i ...

– acoustic bass guitar, vocals *

– drums, percussion, vocals The Horns of Dilemma * John Sparrow –

cajón A cajón (; "box", "crate" or "drawer") is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front or rear faces (generally thin plywood) with the hands, fingers, or sometimes implements such as brushes, mallets, ...

* Jeff Hamilton – acoustic guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, 6 string banjo, ukulele, vocals, percussion *

Blaise Garza Blaise Garrett Garza (born February 10, 1989) is an American actor and musician. Acting career From 1994 to 1996, Garza played the role of Gregory Hudson, the son of John ( David Forsyth) and Sharlene Hudson ( Anna Kathryn Holbrook), on '' Ano ...

–

contrabass Contrabass (from it, contrabbasso) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchest ...

, bass,

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

and

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

s *

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, acoustic guitar, piano, organ, vocals *

Paul Cebar Paul Cebar (born 1956) is an American songwriter, singer, guitarist and bandleader from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who plays Music of Africa, African, Latin American music, Latin American and Caribbean music. He has released four albums and an EP with hi ...

–

electric 12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

Technical * Jeff Hamilton –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...

– mastering * John Agnello – mixing * Kevin Arndt –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Martin Bisi Martin Bisi (born 1961) is an American producer and songwriter. He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, The Dresden Dolls, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, Ang ...

– engineering * Warren A. Bruleigh – production assistance Artwork * Antoine Moonen – design * Kevin Hearn – cover art * Herman Asph – photography

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:We Can Do Anything Violent Femmes albums 2016 albums PIAS Recordings albums