The band was founded by singer Sebastian Murphy in 2015 and includes members from Swedish bands such as Les Big Byrds, Pig Eyes and Nitad. The name of the band was born with the intent to ridicule the concept of misogynistic and virile masculinity. Irony is widely present in the lyrics of the group's songs that analyze and make fun of social conventions and conformism. The challenge to accepted common sense, the celebration of sports and physical strength, the desire for insertion and acceptance into society, the right-thinking people and substance addictions are some of the recurring themes in the band's songs.
Stockholm post-punk hero’s Viagra Boys new album Welfare Jazz was produced by Matt Sweeney (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Run the Jewels), Justin and Jeremiah Raisen (Yves Tumor, Kim Gordon, Sky Ferreira) as well as past collaborators Pelle Gunnerfeldt and Daniel Fagerström (The Hives, The Knife). Ever the band drenched in satire, they return with their brand of horn-filled, searing post-punk and rejection of standard genre trope’s to deftly lay waste to society’s normalization of toxic masculinity, racism, misogyny, classism, and self-obsession. Even the album’s title has a layer of satirical depth; the transliteration from Swedish of the term used for the government’s financial support of jazz musicians cuts to the quick of institutionalized classism and prioritization.
Murphy, who has established himself as a drunken yet conscious stumbler in past videos, reprises the role for the new video Ain’t Nice, but this time wreaking havoc along with way. Stealing scooters, jackets, disrupting otherwise leisurely picnics Murphy leaves no innocent bystander left unbothered. He then time travels to the 18th century, surrounded by servants donning powdered wigs. The track and video coyly mock the patriarchal macho relationship drama of “classic” post-punk via a full-throated snarl, cement-cracking bass lines, and pinprick synths.