Album Review: Viagra Boys, viagr aboys

These Swedish punks have blazed a trail in the underground for the best part of a decade. Hailed as one of the most incendiary lives acts on the planet, with the arrival of their fourth album, the eardrum-battering rockers are taking another step towards the big time.

Dialling back the politics and nihilism of ‘22’s breakthrough Cave World, viagr aboys is an LP about finding yourself while getting lost. Once again co-produced by Pelle Gunnerfeldt, the record examines love, life, the American nightmare and what it’s like to be a “bag of meat.” Heavily tattooed, shrimp-loving frontman Sebastian Murphy is in top form throughout, reminding us that growing older doesn’t have to mean getting soft and selling out.

His growls, howls and croons are full of charm – and the likes of the Stooges and Hives-style ‘Dirty Boyz’, and garage rocker ‘Man Made Of Meat’, will sound glorious in a sweat-drenched club. The Lemonheads-tinged alt ballad ‘Medicine For Horses’ is a showstopper, while the flute-driven, hip hop-minded ‘Store Policy’ affirms there’s more to Viagra Boys than just sound and fury.

Brilliant and bizarre, viagr aboys is a blast.

• Out now.