viagr aboys
The first of which is a serious contender for album of the year: viagr aboys by Viagra Boys(Listen) – their fourth full length album, following Cave World (2022), Welfare Jazz (2021), and Street Worms (2019). I've been a fan since the first live video I saw of them on YouTube, probably in the Street Worms era.
Viagra Boys are a punk band from Sweden, but their singer is from California. Which makes total sense if you read their lyrics – they are too steeped in American culture and absurdities to not be native to this country. Europeans have a lot to make fun of us for, but to get to the level Viagra Boys do, you have to live here... and Sebastian Murphy did for his formative years.
And it's not all American culture and related jokes, mind you. He riffs on "feeling like a bitch when he talks about Swedish politics" on "Uno II" and he totally ends the bog vs swamp debate in "The Bog Body"... which is very European. I doubt many Americans even know what a fucking bog is... 🤣
Musically, Viagra Boys do the art punk, NY Dolls, Richard Hell & the Voidoids thing... discordant guitars, horns, spoken/sung lyrics... absolutely hilarious lyrics. I don't think there are many, if any, current bands doing what they do. And they do it very well too.
Favorite tracks: "Man Made of Meat", "Uno II", "The Bog Body", "Waterboy", and "Store Policy"
"Man Made of Meat" by Viagra Boys
"Uno II" by Viagra Boys
"The Bog Body" by Viagra Boys
