viagra boys - cave world
By Miles Silverstein
Every now and again…
…a band comes along and delivers exactly what they say they will. They could have named themselves “Growl-in-your-face-while-the-drummer-puts-a-boot-through-the-kicker-so-get-up-or-get-out,” but “Viagra Boys” gets the same point across. The Stockholm five-piece has built a career out of a powerfully identifiable sound (and a forehead tattoo). If you didn’t know you needed cowboy growls over bouncy dance-punk, you’re welcome–now you do. But what happens when it ain’t broke and you do fix it?
2022’s Cave World is Viagra Boys at their best. With every release, the group has sharpened their sound: 2019’s Street Worms was filled with tireless energy, 2021’s Welfare Jazz maintained the energy and added satire and experimentation, and Cave World maintains that upward trajectory. Viagra Boys carries through a consistent theme while also pushing their sound forward, breaking more barriers, and proving that they not only fit the mold, but continue to reshape it.
In order to improve, inspiration must strike from outside sources. This sparks the topic of influence, something very important to this album. The sound that built the band’s career is still alive and kicking, but it’s been enhanced and reinvigorated with bits and bobs from a laundry basket of other artists. There are moments on this record I could swear I was listening to a B-side from Kraftwerk’s Tour de France, or something off ZZ Top’s Eliminator. It’s clear that Viagra Boys understand the zeitgeist, incorporating a wide range of new generation concepts into Cave World that work seamlessly with the radio hits of the last generation.
‘Baby Criminal’ comes out swinging with eight fast snare hits into a distorted disco groove, complete with saxophone lines crazy enough to slot into Coltrane’s Ascension. Lead vocalist Sebastian Murphy spins a tale about an oblivious parent and their child’s spiraling descent into the alt-right pipeline, setting a thematic tone for the rest of the album. Chants of “used to be a baby, now I’m just a criminal” illustrate Cave World’s charmingly simplistic message: that the alt-right is crazy and delusional, and above all else, a dangerous place to be.
As the chants fade into ‘Cave Hole,’ a techno interlude (seriously, Kraftwerk!) courtesy of producer DJ Haydn, the listener is granted a moment to process the high octane delivery and catch up. It evokes a beautiful auditory illusion that perhaps speaks deeply to the demands of growing up in a decaying world order, because just when you think you’ve got the tempo sussed, ‘Cave Hole’ whips the listener back into raw energy.
‘Troglodyte,’ another tome about the dangers of the alt-right, is a raging bull. Viagra Boys keep trucking along comfortably with an amped-up homage to their forefathers in music about de-evolution–the chorus of this track bears striking resemblance to DEVO’s ‘Girl U Want.’ ‘Troglodyte’ chugs along over a moving beat that tickles the listener into the realization that the ideology of the right wing is somehow barbaric and prehistoric–devoid of culture and society–scampering creatures concerned only with their next meal and finding a mate before the full moon. It kicks off the B-plot of Cave World, a consistent evolution metaphor: “When we had hairy arms and legs/And you were still swimming round in a lake/Yeah you were still a troglodyte/You just evolved a bit too late.”
Following ‘Troglodyte’ is ‘Punk Rock Loser,’ the lead single off Cave World. ‘Punk Rock Loser’ addresses the plague of toxic masculinity through a satirical first-person lens. The soundscape introduced by this song is interesting; it wouldn’t feel out of place wheezing from the lips of a dying cowboy, perhaps a metaphor intended to leave the listener with a sense that we’re all on our own at our worst. On Welfare Jazz, songs like ‘Toad’ or ‘In Spite of Ourselves’ are quintessentially cowboy, but still hold onto a skittish anxiousness; ‘Punk Rock Loser’ is a much more suave tune, conveying the same sentiments in a much more comfortable way. With a slower tempo and a much more simplistic lead line, this song feels like Viagra Boys at their most distilled: hyper-satirical and macho as hell.
That’s not to say they leave the twitchy anxiousness behind, though. Track five is ‘Creepy Crawlers,’ and it’s mad. Murphy channels a deranged Jello Biafra meditating recklessly on fringe conspiracy theories, microchip vaccine skepticism and adrenochrome (the Hunter S. Thompson, QAnon, satanic blood cult, pizzagate nut-fest), blanketed by arpeggiated synth lines and a frenetic flat-dry snare line. Viagra Boys are inimitable in their power to create psychopathic earworms that burrow deeply into the lizard brain, and ‘Creepy Crawlers’ is a welcome parasite. Somehow, Murphy manages to make the chant “They’re turning kids into adrenochrome” one of the catchiest bits on the whole record.
‘The Cognitive Trade-Off Hypothesis’ comes next, and it is another interesting track that seems to break with the old Viagra Boys. Its clever mix of analog instrumentation and melodic synth experimentation feels more at home on Gorillaz’s Demon Days than a Viagra Boys record. It continues the evolutionary theme, this time focusing on the progression from monkey to man. While thematically important, ‘The Cognitive Trade-Off Hypothesis’ quietly meanders over repetitive lyrics and a single instrumental line. The Boys are tired, and they’re taking a break. After all, you need a break from the schizoid ramblings of ‘Creepy Crawlers’ before the howling madness of ‘Ain’t No Thief’ (Yes, purists, there is a forty second interlude somewhere in there, but it’s really over before you know it).
‘Ain’t No Thief’ is unapologetic fun. The first fifteen seconds sound like a cop show off the filthy streets of the American seventies, featuring muted wailing wah-wah’s laid out across a fuzzed crunch guitar on the last tick before the gain knob decays the sound into recycled waste. Viagra Boys bottle lightning for a dirty, danceable, sex romp. The lyrics are a largely hilarious and forgettable narrative of a thief trying his best to convince the listener he didn’t steal a few items too specific to not be stolen. No one’s buying it–we’re all too busy dancing. By the call and response chorus the infection is complete, and Viagra Boys are at their apotheosis, masterfully juggling dance-punk, fun lyrics, creative ambience, niche influences, and true-to-form innovation across song structure.
‘Big Boy’ is one of the longer cuts on the record, which is unfortunate considering it’s one of the slower and less interesting songs. Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods fame makes a cameo towards the end to try and bring the energy back up, but this song really just does not feel like it fits in the same echelon as the strokes of genius that are ‘Punk Rock Loser’ or ‘Ain’t No Thief.’ Similar to ‘The Cognitive Trade-Off Hypothesis,’ ‘Big Boy’ is a song heavy in theme but light on energy.
On the topic of songs that don’t fit in, next up is ‘ADD.’ This track is also out of place among the rest of Cave World, but in a different way–there’s an addictive, poppy charm to it. The band is clearly experimenting towards the end of this album, and it especially shows on ‘ADD.’ The straightforward, catchy chorus and strained vocal delivery on the verses make it unique, and one hell of a running song. The track is heavy on the 808s in a way that nothing else on Cave World is, showing that Viagra Boys has the potential to break the mold and still make something fun.
Barring ‘Human Error’, an interlude that is basically just an intro to the last track, there is only one song left on Cave World: ‘Return to Monke’ (yes, spelled that way), a six and a half minute epic of a closer. Easily the heaviest of all the songs on this record, the band claimed they were heavily inspired by Rage Against the Machine while writing it, and it shows. Every theme that’s been thrown around throughout the record meets here at this phenomenal nexus of everything Cave World stands for. ‘Return to Monke’ bridges the gap between themes of evolution, toxic masculinity, conspiracy, and the alt-right. Sonically and content-wise, ‘Return to Monke’ is Cave World.
In 2021, Viagra Boys suffered the tragic loss of their founding guitarist, Benjamin Vallé. His work on early EPs such as Consistency of Energy and Call of the Wild laid the foundation for the identity that the band would go on to cultivate. Viagra Boys made the noble decision to honor Vallé through continuing the band’s trademark sound, but also moving forward and growing Vallé’s brainchild. Cave World represents a band at their best, and somehow it still seems like the band has room to grow. After this stunning record, the future of Viagra Boys is uniquely bright!