Viagra Boys - viagr aboys

‘Man Made of Meat’, the first single from Swedish nonsense-punks Viagra Boys’ fourth album ‘viagr aboys’, includes: a mention of Chandler Bing, frontman Sebastian Murphy burping into the mic, and at least one mention of goblins. So far, so Viagra Boys.

Follow-up single ‘Uno II’ was the first hint that things might be a little bit different this time around. Sure, it’s a song from the perspective of a dog with rotten teeth, but it also features an eerie flute instrumental and a distinctly stripped back sound compared to the band’s usual output. The logical sonic continuation of ‘The Cognitive Trade-off Hypothesis’ from 2022’s ‘Cave World’, it’s a refreshing change of pace and the choice to put it front and centre as one of the album’s lead singles shows a band who are keen to keep evolving.

This same spirit of experimentation reigns across the album as a whole. ‘Medicine for Horses’ grapples with mental illness (but still finds room to pine for the days when you could “pay a guy to get his horse to stomp you on the head”), and album closer ‘River King’ is an out and out love song, complete with piano.

On the flipside of these bold strides into unknown territory there’s plenty for fans of debut album ‘Street Worms’ to enjoy. ‘The Bog Body’ is a ranting, raving trip through the jealousy one might feel if their partner fell in love with an ancient mummified corpse, while ‘Waterboy’ sees Sebastian meandering through disjointed images from a less than salubrious past - stealing bikes, passing out on sofas, and generally living the kind of life he now effortlessly parodies on ‘You N33d Me’ (“I can drink about 15 beers or maybe 25, it depends on the can”).

Viagra Boys have always felt like a clever band who revel in acting dumb. On ‘viagr aboys’ this is just as true as ever, with impressively intricate instrumentals backing up the organised chaos of Sebastian’s mind. It all gels so well that at times you forget that you’re listening to a man talking about how he’s sacrificing goats to aid his wellbeing, or being kicked out of the supermarket for ahem touching himself by the health food shelf. Or maybe you won’t forget - it’s all part of Viagra Boys’ appeal, after all.