Stockholm post-punk hero’s Viagra Boys have announced a new album Welfare Jazz, available January 8th via YEAR0001. The album is produced by Matt Sweeney (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Run the Jewels), Justin and Jeremiah Raisen (Yves Tumor, Kim Gordon, Sky Ferreira) as well as past collaborators Pelle Gunnerfeldt and Daniel Fagerström (The Hives, The Knife).
Ever the band drenched in satire, they return with their brand of horn-filled, searing post-punk and rejection of standard genre tropes, to deftly lay waste to society’s normalisation of toxic masculinity, racism, misogyny, classism, and self-obsession.
Even the album’s title has a layer of satirical depth; the transliteration from Swedish of the term used for the government’s financial support of jazz musicians cuts to the quick of institutionalised classism and prioritisation. “I’m not good at talking about politics, but everything is political when it comes down to it,” explains singer Sebastian Murphy. “I’d rather write a song about being defeated, which usually comes from a real place and says a lot.” The microbleeds into the macro with the new record as Murphy continues, “We wrote these songs at a time when I had been in a long-term relationship, taking drugs every day, and being an asshole. I didn’t really realise what an asshole I was until it was too late, and a lot of the record has to do with coming to terms with the fact that I’d set the wrong goals for myself.”
Murphy, who has established himself as a drunken yet conscious stumbler in past videos, reprises the role for the new video “Ain’t Nice,” but this time wreaks havoc along with way. Stealing scooters and jackets and disrupting otherwise leisurely picnics, Murphy leaves no innocent bystander left unbothered. He then time travels to the 18th century, surrounded by servants donning powdered wigs. The track and video coyly mock the patriarchal macho relationship drama of “classic” post-punk via a full-throated snarl, cement-cracking bass lines, and pinprick synths.
Watch the video for ‘Ain’t Nice’ – BELOW:
WELFARE JAZZ TRACKLISTING
01. Ain’t Nice
02. Cold Play
03. Toad
04. The Old Dog
05. Into The Sun
06. Creatures
07. 6 Shooter
08. Best In Show II
09. Secret Canine Agent
10. I Feel Alive
11. Girls & Boys
12. To The Country
13. In Spite Of Ourselves
VIAGRA BOYS LIVE
MAY 19 – DE – Leipzig – Conne Island
MAY 20 – PL – Warsaw – Praga Centrum
MAY 21 – AT – Vienna – Flex
MAY 22 – CZ – Prague – Meet Factory
MAY 23 – DE – Munich – Technikum
MAY 24 – DE – Berlin – Festsaal Kreuzberg
MAY 25 – DE – Hamburg – Uebel & Gefährlich
MAY 27 – FR – Paris – Trabdeno
MAY 28 – NL – Amsterdam – Paradiso
MAY 29 – BE – Antwerp – Trix
MAY 30 – DE – Cologne – Kantine
JUN 01 – UK – Brighton – Concorde2
JUN 02 – UK – Newcastle – NUSU Basement
JUN 03 – UK – Glasgow – Queen Marget Union
JUN 04 – UK – London – The Forum
JUN 05 – UK – Liverpool – Invisible Wind Factory
JUN 06 – IE – Dublin – 02 Academy
JUN 08 – UK – Manchester – The Ritz
JUN 09 – UK – Birmingham – The Mill
JUN 10 – UK – Bristol – SXW
NOV 23 – FR – Lille – L´Aeroonef
NOV 24 – FR – Strasbourg – La Laiterie
NOV 25 – FR – Lyon – Transbordeur
NOV 28 – IT – Bologna – Freak Out
NOV 30 – IT – Roma – Teatro Centrale
DEC 01 – IT – Milano – Magazzine Generali
Tickets available through tour.vboysstockholm.com
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