Viagra Boys at the Forum

Swedish sextet Viagra Boys have scheduled themselves out of the running for Eurovision this weekend by embarking on a year-long tour across Europe, the US and Europe again. No wonder frontman Sebastian Murphy is on the floor within five minutes of entering the stage at the Kentish Town Forum, writhing around like a young (and old) Iggy Pop, covered in so many tattoos that those stood further back might not realise he’s topless. His voice is raw and hungry, his dancing as clumsy as one could want from a punk singer; he pauses only to slump on the drum riser and lament the venue’s no-smoking policy. When he claims, “my mum wanted me to go to astronaut school, but everyone told me I was born to rock’n’roll,” his meaning is self-evident (the second part at least).

Murphy’s magnetism actually makes it easy to forget there are other people on-stage, but for the perfect wall of post-punk noise they produce, gliding uninterrupted from singalong stomps (I Feel Alive) to saxophone skronk (Shrimp Shack). A pair of new songs suggest the Viagra Boys are keeping it up for their impending album Cave World, with Troglodyte and Ain’t No Thief sitting comfortably alongside choice cuts from both Street Worms and Welfare Jazz. Ain’t Nice is played with the febrile energy of licking a battery, Slow Learner has a Queens of the Stone Age groove and a Swedish swagger reminiscent of the Hives, and a second saxophonist joins the boys for the bongo-laden crunch of Down in the Basement.

How they intend to do this more or less every night for a year is a question for chemists, but wherever you live there is a high chance the Viagrabus is coming. They kick the sold-out crowd back onto the rain-soaked streets of London with no doubts as to the vitality of punk, the intelligence and diligence of the band, nor the irony of their name. No performance issues here.

Dan Meier
Photos: Filippo L’Astorina

For further information and future events visit Viagra Boys’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Ain’t No Thief here: