Can't Maintain (stylized as can't maintain.) is the third studio album by Andrew Jackson Jihad.
Production
Jeff Rosenstock played horns and theremin on the album.Jason P. Woodbury (2011) "Andrew Jackson Jihad's Sean Bonnette on Knife Man and Gawker" Phoenix New Times. Published September 16, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2020. The release was mastered by Carl Saff. In 2019, AJJ frontman Sean Bonnette ranked Can't Maintain as his third favorite album from the band's six releases to dateDan Ozzi (2019) "AJJ’s Sean Bonnette Ranks the Band’s Six Albums" Noisey. Published February 1, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2020. and described it as "the only record thus far where we knew the sequence going into it." In 2019, AJJ celebrated the album's 10th anniversary by playing it in full at a fundraising concert in Phoenix, Arizona.Amy Young (2019) "AJJ Celebrates Can't Maintain's Anniversary at Cowtown S.K.A.T.E.'s Annual Fundraiser" Phoenix New Times. Published October 1, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.Ed Masley (2019) "Here's some great local music to check out in Phoenix, from Fairy Bones to Spafford" AZCentral. Published October 4, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
Track listing
Reception Adam Finley, writing for PopMatters, described Can't Maintain as one of the best albums of 2009.Adam Finley (2011) "Andrew Jackson Jihad: Knife Man" PopMatters. Published October 10, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2020. Robin Smith of PopMatters wrote that the album "opened with scuzzy electric guitars and pounding drums" and called the track "We Didn't Come Here to Rock" a "delightfully ironic rocker."Robin Smith (2014) "Getting Naked, Playing with Guns: An Interview with Andrew Jackson Jihad" PopMatters. Published 28 April 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020. The A.V. Club included the track “Who Are You?” in its list of songs about bad fathers, adding that Bonnette "[coats] his complex emotions in witty one-liners.""Bad dads: 19 songs about shitty fathers" The A.V. Club. Published June 11, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
Personnel
Andrew Jackson Jihad Sean Bonnette - lead vocals, guitar, kazoo, glockenspiel Ben Gallaty - bass, guitar on "Evil", backing vocals Preston Bryant - guitar on "You Don't Deserve Yourself", piano on "White Face, Black Eyes" Deacon Batchelor - drums Owen Evans - banjo, piano on "Evil"
Additional personnel Jeff Rosenstock - saxophone, theremin Kepi Ghoulie - whistling David Jerkovich - drums, viola, mandolin, electric guitar, organ, and trumpet all on "Love Will Fuck Us Apart" Davy Charles - trumpet, trombone on "Truckers Are the Blood" Matt Keegan - trombone Tobie Milford - violin Jaspen Nelson - trombone on "Truckers Are the Blood" Allyson Seconds - vocals on "Love In The Time Of Human Papillomavirus" Carl Saff - mastering Jalipaz Nelson - recording, mixing, noise Ryan Piscitelli - artwork, layout
References