Sweden’s new punk rock hell-raisers are not only pissed off about masculinity, die-hard sports fans and right-wing fascists – they also really hate themselves!
Viagra Boys, are a Stockholm-based punk band whose very name is a parody of hypermasculinity and the alpha males’ inability to ‘get it up’. However, their musical ‘prowess’ is nothing if not ‘hard as fuck’.
The band is known for making waves on and off stage! They hate fascists – especially the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party waging an ideological war against immigrants and minorities in their home country.
And right now, American-born frontman Sebastian Murphy hates himself! The band wrote the songs on their new album, Welfare Jazz, at a time when as Murphy explains, he had been in, “a long-term relationship, taking drugs every day, denying it, and being an asshole.”
“I didn’t really realise what an asshole I was until it was too late, and a lot of the tracks have to do with coming to terms with the fact that I’d set the wrong goals for myself … I kept having this recurring nightmare where my mum was crying and my friends were all pissed off at me.”
On Welfare Jazz Murphy’s lyrics take you on a journey through the band’s anger with racism, classism, toxic masculinity and misogyny.
The track ‘Girls and Boys’ talks of outdated gender roles, Ain’t Nice is about Murphy’s dislike of his drug fueled-self and ‘Creatures‘ a Nick Cave-esque ditty speaks of coming to terms with being an arsehole.
“I’d rather write a song about being defeated, which usually comes from a real place and says a lot,” Murphy admits.
“I didn’t really realise what an asshole I was until it was too late, and a lot of the tracks has to do with coming to terms with the fact that I’d set the wrong goals for myself.” Sebastian Murphy, Viagra Boys
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The album ends with a brilliant post-punk cover of country singer/songwriter John Prine‘s “In Spite of Ourselves,” where Murphy duets with Amy Taylor from Australian punks Amyl and the Sniffers.
Viagra Boys have a hint of Iggy Pop and Nick Cave about their sound with a dash of an’80s electronic Human League feel. However, they do have a huge pinch of punk’s ‘don’t-give-a-fuck’ attitude!
And there’s plenty of attitude to go around too – because as Murphy says: “Music’s a lot more interesting when you admit that you’re not always going to be nice. You’re not always going to pick the right words in a fist-fight. So why not keep moving forward, swaying and strutting into the night?”
Viagra Boys will embark on a UK and Ireland tour next summer in support of ‘Welfare Jazz’.
June 2021
1 – Concorde 2, Brighton
2 – NUSU Basement, Newcastle
3 – Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow
4 – The Forum, London
5 – Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool
6 – O2 Academy, Dublin
8 – The Ritz, Manchester
9 – The Mill, Birmingham
10 – SXW, Bristol
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