Violent Femmes - We Can Do Anything

Oh no! Here it is the end of the night, and we didn't get a chance to jam!

And with that Violent Femmes reference, let's listen to their 2016 album We Can Do Anything (which i have on vinyl!)

Allmusic grudgingly says it has a right to exist. Screw whichever useless freelancer uttered those words. If ever there was a band that deserved the label "alternative" it's Gordon Gano, Brian Ritchie, and their current snare drum player. Violent Femmes is literally the least commercial band in existence, and probably the most famous folk-punk band (Meat Puppets are the only other band to reach the same level of renown, but they stray from the genre frequently).

They can be silly, or shocking, or sentimental, or downright dark. John Zorn played in their backing horn section for a while.

This is one of the more stripped back albums in their discography, completely acoustic with a few accents (a lot like The Red Headed Stranger). It's by no means minimal, but definitely intimate. It's not a concept album, but quite literal. They really can do anything, love songs, untrue love songs ;) , songs about midgets fighting dragons, and they aren't done (they made another album in 2019, but i actually haven't heard it yet).

I don't have any criticism for anything they've done. Certain songs might not do it for you (i like all of them), you might hate Gano's nasally voice (i love it), or you might get confused by their most sarcastic or juvenile moments (i completely get it), but you can't argue that they're doing it wrong. They play exactly what they want to play, when they want to play it, and i don't think they ever even read any of the corporate memos their labels sent them.

I'm just happy they're still going. I love love love love Violent Femmes and i'm not sure we can be friends anymore if you hate them.

My phone says 11:58, but it's fast so i definitely made it. Enjoy.

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