Viagra Boys | Artist
Viagra Boys are a Swedish post-punk band formed 2015 in Stockholm by Henrik "Benke" Hockert (bass), Tor Sjoden (drums), Sebastian Murphy (vocals), Tor Benjamin "Benis" Valle (guitar), Konie (Synthesizer) and Rasmus Booberg (guitar). The band members came together from other Swedish bands Les Big Byrd, Pig Eyes, Nine, Nitad, and Neu-Ronz. Sebastian Murphy, the singer and primary songwriter, was actually born in California but moved to Sweden when he was 14. He worked as a tattoo artist and met the other band members while performing Mariah Carey's song "We Belong Together" at a karaoke night. In 2018 they released their debut album, Street Worms which was championed by music journalist Nils Hansson who praised their musical style as well as their use of black humour and satire, and rated the album a five out of five. The band's second album, Welfare Jazz, was released in January 2021, preceding the untimely death of Benjamin Vallé, the band's co-founder and guitarist, in October 2021. The band's highly anticipated third studio album Cave World was released in July 2022, elicting rave reviews such as the following RYM excerpt: "this is a satirical, hilarious, and blaringly intense piece of dance-punk beauty. The themes of the album all seem to be through the perspective of a self absorbed manic character, and the ridiculous skeptic ideas that aren't worth taking seriously are paired perfectly with the overtly colorful and absurd sound of this album." The band's sound fuses pounding hard rock grooves, minimalist melodies, discordant guitar and sax, and howling vocals into an uncompromising volley of sound. Fascinated with drugs, anger, and the evils of male privilege, Viagra Boys became a cult phenomenon in their homeland before word spread throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America. Their first three studio albums are standouts, as well as the 2019 live release Shrimp Sessions. The band is known for using satire and dark humour to criticise hypermasculinity and far-right conspiracy theories. The idiosyncratic and articulate lyrics of their songs also make numerous references to shrimp. The band explained that their name was inspired by a friend who frequently took Viagra, coupled with a desire to come up with an extreme band name that also included the word “boys".
Artist Website: vboysstockholm.com
Featured Albums: Viagra Boys
Related Artists: Pig Eyes
Collections: Movers Shakers
