Written by: Geoff Tischman

Touring behind their first new album in sixteen years, the Violent Femmes have never sounded more electric.

The legendary band played to a packed house the other night at the Capitol Theatre in New York and they checked in with one of my favorite performances of the year. Reaching into their deep songbook, the ‘Femmes played a career-spanning set that drew from their extensive discography and also featured numbers from their fabulous new album We Can Do Anything.

With new drummer John Sparrow now comfortably a part of the folk/punk trio’s lineup, the band sounded confident and loose. Singer Gordon Gano and bassist Brian Ritchie, who have been at it since 1980, were having a blast and every track demonstrated that the Violent Femmes remain one of the most vital American bands around.