More about: Viagra Boys

Stockholm post-punk heroes Viagra Boys are back with their sophomore record Welfare Jazz, continuing their brand of satirical, horn-filled, searing rejection of standard genre tropes to deftly lay waste to society’s normalisation of toxic masculinity, xenophobia, classism, and self-obsession.

Combinations of those various lyrical themes and the plethora of different musical inspirations are what made the boys' 2018 debut Street Worms so fascinating, and Welfare Jazz lives up to it with more of their masterful satire along with jazz and country inspirations woven into their forte of striking post-punk.

The record begins with the heavy lead single - released back in October - ‘Ain’t Nice’, setting the record off with strength. Demonstrating the band’s musical versatility, it incorporates horns and synths into a track with post-punk foundations, a practice that continues throughout the record.

Continuing with an interesting 32-second jazz instrumental and some satirical misogyny on ‘Toad’, Welfare Jazz shapes up as an album that again tears down musical and societal norms. The band’s snarling singer Sebastian Murphy explained: “I’m not good at talking about politics, but everything is political when it comes down to it, I’d rather write a song about being defeated, which usually comes from a real place and says a lot.”

‘Into The Sun’, which is undoubtedly the strongest track on the album, proves Murphy’s point by focusing on themes of addiction, loss and looking back at past mistakes - all things he has personally suffered. This sits nicely alongside elongated raspy vocals that sound almost like 90s grunge. 

The political themes continue on the following track ‘Creatures’ containing a deep and unfortunate but effective metaphor comparing living underwater to living in inescapable poverty. The track also features some interesting experimentation with 80s pop elements such as synth hooks and beats, making it another of the stronger tracks on the album.

Welfare Jazz’s obsession with dogs on ‘This Old Dog’, ‘Best In Show II’ and ‘Secret Canine Agent’ is a bizarre addition to the album, but again taken from Sebastian Murphy’s own experiences. In his recent Gigwise interview, he said: “I used to go to dog shows when I was younger with my dad – I don’t know why. I think we just did it because it was weird.”

Newest single ‘Girls and Boys’ - which now features on fictional radio station Kult FM in the new Grand Theft Auto V update - begins the conclusion of the album. Another great combination of post-punk and jazz, it also reminisces on the band partying in their younger years – a guaranteed alternative floor filler. 

Interesting country elements become evident on the album’s final two tracks, the penultimate ‘To The Country’ with lyrics reminiscent of Paul McCartney’s Scottish farm era in the early 70s and the final track – a cover of John Prine’s ‘In Spite Of Ourselves’ featuring Amy Taylor, vocalist for the Australian punk band Amyl and the Sniffers. The country styles undoubtedly come from Murphy himself: "if I could decide, I would probably make an entire country album” he told us. 

The beauty of 2018’s Street Worms came through in brilliant lyrical humour whilst being powerfully sad simultaneously. Welfare Jazz is slightly messier in the sense that there are a lot more emotions bleeding from it, but that doesn’t make it a messy album. While not quite as strong as their debut (in the absence of that harmonized emotion and smash hits like ‘Sports’) this is still a great satirical reflection of our shambolic society. 

Welfare Jazz arrives 8 January via Year001.

More about: Viagra Boys