When the Violent Femmes released We Can Do Anything in March, it was the band’s first album of new material in 16 years. The quirky trio, featuring original collaborators Gordon Gano on guitar and vocals and Brian Ritchie on bass, plus current drummer John Sparrow, is known for ’80s college-radio hits “Blister in the Sun” and “Gone Daddy Gone,” and has been a staple of the alt-rock scene since the early 1980s (before anybody called it “alt-rock”). Always a cult act of sorts, the band has built up influence and popularity over more than 30 years.
After 2000’s album Freak Magnet, Gano announced that the band would no longer record new music, but he finally changed his mind this year, for an album that Classic Rock Magazine calls “a breezy return to what they do best.” That means quirky lyrics and vocals, an appealingly ragged, acoustic sound, and support from the Femmes’ longtime backing musicians, known as the Horns of Dilemma. Live, the Femmes mix sharp, precise wit with loose, sometimes improvised musicianship from the rotating members of the Horns. It’s an approach that’s garnered them a loyal following over the past three decades, one fan at a time.
Brooklyn Bowl at The Linq, 8:30 p.m. May 5, starting at $35 plus fee, 18+. 702.862.2695
