''Trouble Maker'' is the ninth studio album by the American

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

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 Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and ...

guitarist

Brett Gurewitz Brett W. Gurewitz (born May 12, 1962), nicknamed Mr. Brett, is an American musician and record producer, best known as the co-founder and guitarist of the Punk rock, punk band Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records ...

, 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 Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it is a phenomenon th ...

, and Red Star. The album was preceded by the first single and music video for "Ghost of a Chance". "Bovver Rock and Roll" was released as the album's second single. "Where I'm Going" was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

. A music video was also made for "Telegraph Avenue".

Critical reception

''Trouble Maker'' was met with generally favorable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 69, based on ten reviews. Shane Baldwin of ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

'' praised the album, writing: "''Trouble Maker'' is up there with their best". Dan Weiss of ''

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. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

'' wrote: "there's no formal breakthroughs on ''Trouble Maker'' beyond the astounding economy, unless you think the harmonica on "Buddy" or Clash-goes-"Ring of Fire" chords on "Telegraph Avenue" makes this the band's

folk-punk Folk punk (known in its early days as rogue folk) is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in t ...

album". Zoe Camp of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' resumed: "while ''Trouble Maker'' doesn't usurp the band's primordial peak, it's far and wide their strongest effort since 2000's excellent

self-titled An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

". Nick Roseblade of '' Drowned in Sound'' called the album "a return to force for Rancid, and is the musical equivalent of a football team winning a major trophy after years in the wilderness and the absolute elation that comes with that. However there is a downside", and added "Rancid could have released ''Trouble Maker'' at any point since they began". In mixed reviews,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Tim Sendra stated: "like their disappointing 2014 album ''...

Honor Is All We Know ''...Honor Is All We Know'' is the eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Rancid, released on October 27, 2014. It is the band's first studio album since ''Let the Dominoes Fall'' (2009), and their second one to be recorded under it ...

'', ''Trouble Maker'' is the sound of a band going through the motions, telling the same stories over and over, bashing out the same riffs, and ultimately not connecting any punches". John Paul of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' found the album "more of the same; retreads of staid ideas, sounds and themes better suited to teenage ennui".

Background and recording

Originally Rancid intended to record an EPs worth of material in December 2015. The tracks written solely by

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

were meant for his second solo album which was recorded with

Matt Freeman Roger Matthew Freeman, also known as Matt McCall, (born April 23, 1966) is an American musician best known as the bassist of punk rock band Rancid. After forming several bands with guitarist and vocalist Tim Armstrong in the late 1980s and e ...

on bass and

Joey Castillo Joseph William Castillo (born March 30, 1966) is an American musician. He is best known for being the drummer of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age from 2002 to 2012. He is currently a member of Circle Jerks, The Bronx, DOOM Regulator, ...

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

Adapted from the album liner notes. Rancid *

– vocals, guitars *

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 *

– bass guitar, vocals *

Branden Steineckert Branden Steineckert (born April 21, 1978) is an American musician. He 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 Sal ...

– drums, backing vocals Studio musicians *

Kevin Bivona Kevin Bivona (born November 8, 1986) is an American multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer best known for his work with Tim Armstrong's various musical projects, particularly the Transplants and Rancid. He is currently the guitarist for the ...

– piano, Hammond B3 organ, melodica *

– additional backing vocals * Skinhead Rob – additional backing vocals *Michael Shultz – additional backing vocals * The Interrupters – additional backing vocals Technical *Brett Gurewitz – producer *Kevin Bivona – engineer * Clinton Welander – engineer *Zach Fisher – assistant engineer *

Andrew Scheps Andrew Scheps is an American mix engineer, recording engineer, record producer, and record label owner based in Los Angeles and the United Kingdom. He has received Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album for his work on Red Hot Chili Peppers' '' Stadi ...

– mixing * Eric Boulanger – mastering * Jett Galindo – mastering assistant *Tim Armstrong – artwork, layout *Jason A. Bonner – artwork, layout *Ernie Parada – artwork, layout

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2017 albums Rancid (band) albums Epitaph Records albums Hellcat Records albums Albums produced by Brett Gurewitz