This show–Lip Critic followed by the Viagra Boys–at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA came right after a tough and depressing Eagles Superbowl loss. Luckily for that sold out show on Tuesday night–lead singer comforted Philly fans by exclaiming that “Kansas City can suck my balls. Fuck em!”
“We’re a very athletic band,” he said. His name is Sebastian Murphy, the tattooed front-man backed by bass (Hockert), drums (Sjödén), sax (Oscar), guitar (Hillborg), and keyboard (Jungqvist). These were the Viagra Boys–someone pinch me.
Everything seemed all-right in the world as the singer’s haunting, loud, melodic voice conjoined and congealed with the band’s hard punk blasting and electronic, Swedish breakdowns that got the crowd dancing. That is until a fight or two broke out, and someone hit the ground. Upon first thought: What do you expect at such a show? Even still, the crowd didn’t feel ready for such raucous goings on.
The next thing we knew, the lead singer was rolling around on the floor. “They’re turning kids into adrenochrome,” he screamed.
I looked at Dom. “I thought this song was just an interlude.”
Wide-eyed, he agreed. “Me too.”
Viagra Boys on Valentine’s Day
Burping, farting, and backed by heavy guitar, deep bass, and electronic dance music–the singer repeated that line and made reference to other “Creepy Crawlers.” Like everything the Viagra Boys did on stage that evening, it was strange but it worked.
The band played for a while! They even played two long songs after the encore. We had wished we saw songs like “Into the Sun”, “Creatures”, and/or “Secret Canine Agent”–but those might have been too much for our backs, necks, feet, and legs to bear. By the end of the show, the lead singer felt like your drunk friend who just wouldn’t leave the party into the wee hours of the morning. Even more long-winded, this particular drunk friend had a microphone, galling lyrics, and a supercharged four-dude ensemble carrying his ranting singing.
Luckily for the lead singer, he said he’d been given the awesome gift of shape-shifting. In particular, he could change into a shrimp, float in the Pacific Ocean to tropical islands, and shift back into human form when it was time to meet that island’s only inhabitant (your Mom with luscious breasts that resembled large tropical fruits). This is all paraphrased from Viagra Boys lead singer, of course.
“The same worms that eat me, will someday eat you too.”
“I’ll borrow your stuff and never put it back. I’m kinda hungry, can you give me a snack? I ain’t nice.”
“Leave society, be a monkey.”
They played something from all three of their albums–but leaned heavily into Cave World and Street Worms rather than Welfare Jazz.
Yes, it was a fun evening hanging with the Viagra Boys–cool, loose, and left us wanting the chance to party with this crew of Punk Rock Losers again.