Album Review: Cave World by Viagra Boys

Cave World, the searing third album by post-punk renegades Viagra Boys, is essentially a manifesto on stupidity. On top of that, the Swedish five-piece also takes a dig at toxic masculinity and how it emboldens bad behavior—all while poking some fun at themselves. If it came from a more serious-minded group, its message could take a more ideologically charged view that borders on preachy.

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They've organically grown a rabid fanbase off the back of two excellent studio albums and a riotous live reputation, and possess - in the mercurial presence of genuine punk lifer Sebastian Murphy - a frontman who can hold his own against the inventor of the genre, Iggy Pop (who is a fan of the band). Their sound - which has been compared to about sixty other acts but reminds this writer most of Devo and Morphine - is a heady brew of trad punk, post punk, country and new wave and their look is a combination of unlicensed doorman menace and tracksuit couch slacker. So far, so perfect.

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Clever but debauched, silly but serious, this is the best album of their career thus far Viagra Boys are masters of attitude. They’ve honed a finely pitched tone that hovers on the line between outdated sleaze and acerbic social commentary, tempered with a sense of humour that’s sometimes joyously silly and with raucous saxophone honks. Sebastian Murphy’s lyrical style, somewhere between the quirky wit of They Might Be Giants and the cretinous inanity of Limp Bizkit, might have blunt edges but it’s capable of cutting deep.

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On their first two records, Viagra Boys earned a reputation as one of the most eccentric bands in modern post-punk with their exciting takes on the buzzy genre, but maybe the Stockholm unit were too exciting: both 2018's Street Worms and 2021's Welfare Jazz lacked connective tissue, there was nothing joining its disparate parts. Transitional interludes such as "Best in Show" on Street Worms came off as pointless filler that neither sounded like the rest of the record nor linked its neighbours "Sports" and "Just Like You," arguably the album's biggest songs. While these may seem like minute details, these moments are crucial in distinguishing a cohesive album from a mere collection of songs.

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Viagra Boys are back with flirtatious sax, satire one-liners, and eccentric vocals. Explosive intro 'Baby Criminal' opens up a can of worms, as Viagra Boys unleash a frenzy of instruments, building on their stapled touch of sensational sax and erratically screamed vocals from frontman Sebastian Murphy. Followed by a sequence of tranquil sounds, 'Cave Hole' replicates artificial sounds of the sea, and is a short breakdown of delicate textures before Viagra Boys boastfully bounce you back to their soaring pace.

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