If you were lucky enough to catch Viagra Boys during their ascendant days about six or seven years ago, you were surely blown away by one of the most intense rock bands to hit the scene in recent memory. Around the time the Swedish post-punks released their debut LP Street Worms, their shows at smaller venues were gloriously unhinged and deliciously intense. You might also have wondered how the Boys’ raw sound and intimate stage show would translate to bigger stages as they gained new listeners around the world. Yet, the band has only continued to conquer larger venues with each sold-out tour, just as they did when they barnstormed the quaint farming community of Forest Grove about forty minutes outside of Portland, Oregon for their biggest Oregon show to date at the Grand Lodge on Sunday, September 14th.
Following a set from buzzy Austin, Texas punk outfit Die Spitz that saw them spotlighting their freshly released debut album Something To Consume with a set that unfortunately suffered from muffled, muddy sound issues, fans were treated to about 45 minutes of pounding Euro-techno to set the mood and get them ready to party with the Boys. While their latest album Viagr Aboys may be a reflection of their aim to reach and appease larger, more mainstream audiences with its distilled post-punk sound, the Boys are still one of the most fearsome live acts to be reckoned with. This was clear the moment they took the stage and launched into the “Waterboy,” a sluggish work of gutbucket punk and New Wave with chunky bass lines, only to ramp things up with a version of “Slow Learner” that was less synthy than previous live versions but soared with its driving bass and free-flowing saxophone.
One notable aspect of the performance was how the band continues to take their sound in new directions. Older tunes like “Punk Rock Loser” showcased a sludgier direction, while “Uno II” was a sharp and direct rocker with bursts of flute injected. “Ain’t No Thief” was a highlight of the night with Linus Hillborg’s psyched-out wah wah guitar and the rave-y energy of the dance beat backing Sebastian Murphy’s charged howls. Following the grungy new tune “Pyramid of Health,” Murphy lambasted this country for becoming a fascist dictatorship that was ultimately a message of unity and a strangely perfect lead-in to the demented Devo-esque synth-rocker “Troglodyte.” “Down in the Basement” was drenched in a bizarrely tripped-out bleep-bloop mess of Oskar Carls’ saxophone and Elias Jungqvist’s synths before segueing straight into the brooding jungle atmospherics of “Store Policy,” which was easily the best new song of the night. Proving himself once again to be the coolest and fiercest perpetually shirtless frontman since Iggy Pop, Murphy laid into the vocals on new tune “You N33d Me” with a visceral punk intensity. Following the moody, ambient synths of “Medicine For Horses” – a song so slow that the audience waved their hands along in a real kumbaya moment – the Boys drove straight into the two songs that first ignited a fire with the music scene. “Sports” was as epic as ever with its mockery of masculine stereotypes, and “Research Chemicals” was a potent cocktail of manic saxophone, industrial beats, and psychedelic guitar shredding.
Onstage at the Grand Lodge, the Viagra Boys were in fine form and more than capable of dominating such a large stage and audience. Their fans – several of whom dressed up as shrimp as a nod to their Shrimptech Enterprises label – couldn’t get enough and beckoned the band back to the stage for an encore that included a Die Spitz cameo on a cranked up cover of the Wipers’ “Return of the Rat.” As the Boys continue their upward trajectory, their live show only gets tighter and their sound gets bigger. Their show outside Portland reaffirmed their status as one of the most exciting acts in rock music right now.
