Can were an eclectic band at the forefront of the Krautrock movement, combining avant-garde tendencies with rock trappings and funk-inflected rhythms.

American visual artist and Can’s original vocalist Malcolm Mooney allegedly named the band as a sort of “can-do” mantra. Mooney explains in a 2016 interview with LA Record:

I named it Can because I can do it! I’m in Cologne and the band is starting to play every day. I can stand at this mic and I can make up lyrics—I can do this.