VIAGRA BOYS レコード& CD

Review: The Stockholm punks are back with their follow-up to 2022's Cave World. This fourth album of theirs was launched with the lead single 'Man Made Of Meat', which recalls English upstarts The Cool Greenhouse, Boston icons The Modern Lovers and 1977-era UK punk. Viagra Boys have been further teasing the album with new songs now making it onto their live set and 'The Bog Body' has become a fan favourite, as it's bombastic enough to spark circle pits. The mighty Pelle Gunnerfeldt (The Hives, Refused) is a frequent collaborator and remains the co-producer meaning there's no drastic changes in direction. Released via their own newly-launched record label, Shrimptech Enterprise, this self-titled effort is set to be a potent fertilizer for their popularity, as they continue to march around the globe, earning the public's respect as one of the century's best live punk bands.

Review: There's no two ways about it: Viagra Boys will go down in history as one of the great Swedish success stories, alongside The Hives, Refused and ABBA. And they've done it without a squeaky clean image, which is refreshing in modern times - this is a band your mum probably wouldn't want you listening to as a kid. In terms of strengthening their status as modern titans of punk and rock n' roll in their country and globally, this fourth studio album is going to do just that. Lead single 'Man Made Of Meat' sets them up perfectly, it's like a sequel to The Stranglers' 'Peaches' in the verses and there's a rabble rousing chorus that you can't help but want to shout-a-long to. What's interesting sonically is they've been indulging in studio effects to twist guitars to sound like synths, meaning they've broadened their sound a lot compared to when they burst onto the scene with 'Sports'. That drive to innovate makes them all the more alluring, but they've not lost any of their character or feral sensibilities.

Review: First popping up on our radar in 2020 - or rather hurling itself onto it with all the subtlety punk can muster - Common Sense gets a reissue and not before time. Outspoken but never outgunned, Swedes Viagra Boys rightly courted some serious praise with 2022's album, Cave World, so it makes sense to revisit this epic EP in a bid to get newcomers acquainted with what came before. Opening on the title number, things may not sound quite as you'd expect. While known for their ability to wield bloody-lipped chargers, 'Common Sense' owes as much to shoegaze and synth rock as it does punk variants, immediately marking the outfit out as something not quite so easy to define. Nevertheless, 'Lick the Bang' is straight up topless sweatbox material, and 'Sentinel Island' centres our brains on wonderfully distorted and frayed riffs. Closing on the slow, nostalgia-hued 'Blue', it's quite the collection.

Review: Hot on the heels of their exceptional new third full-length, 'Cave World', Stockholm's post-punk prodigies, Viagra Boys, have unveiled a deluxe edition of last year's fence swinging sophomore triumph, 'Welfare Jazz'. With big name production help from the likes of Matt Sweeney (whose helmed releases from the likes of Iggy Pop and Queens of the Stone Age), as well as Yves Tumor/Charli XCX collaborator Justin Raisen, the band manage the seemingly impossible feat of combining their jagged edged anthems with a lush, serene approach that has bolstered their profile in the scene immensely. The final full-length to feature guitarist Benjamin Valle before his untimely passing, this expanded edition features seven new tracks, brimming with the unhinged sultry dynamics that continues to make their punk moniker more commonplace with each mention.

Review: Sweden's Viagra Boys offer up an 'electronic band' masterclass, upping the new ravey indie sound to new heights with an array of insane new post-punk heaters. Coming to the vanguard new indie label YEAR0001, it marks a departure from the label's normal focus on electronic and avant-garde rap. 'Cave World' spans twinging chaos and 'post-truth' sonic assaults; lead single 'Troglodyte' echoes their contemporaries Squid or IVVVO in its up-down drums and batshit vocals, while 'Ain't No Thief' might be the track with its third eye most open, melding an alarmist shred onbeat with rabid slap, and enlightened ramblings on current affairs and troubled mental states to top it off

Review: Stockholm post-punks Viagra Boys pull no punches on their visceral Cave World album, which is a distillation of the chaos of our times into a potent mix of indie and alternative rock. These post truth "cow-funk-kraut-wave" enlightenment tunes are fearless in design and execution as the brilliant band thrashes through this moments return to form. It comes on a limited edition green vinyl and is a potent follow up to their last outing back only in 201 when Welfare Jazz marked their stunning debut. Inspired by a conspiracy theory about evolution it takes aim at society and then some.

Review: It's often easy to miss the startling class problems that exist in Sweden. Thankfully Viagra Boys are on hand to deliver a short, or at least swift blow to the country's elite and their dominance of the arts, which is made even more cutting by the fact these brawling chart friendly-yet-gruff indie punk rockers were emulating the very voices they're now snarling at on their previous LP (2018's Street Worms). Talk about a hustle.

Musically things are just as accomplished as those lyrics, and while it's a rowdy, saliva-lipped aesthetic overall -this record barges past you at the bar in a sweaty rush to the pit - there's real scope at play too. From the poised blues refrains of 'Cold Play' to the contorted guitars and spoken word of 'Best In Show' and barroom rockabilly of 'Secret Canine Agent', it's weirdly, wonderfully and equally danceable and listenable.