Swedish punks Viagra Boys are releasing their second album Welfare Jazz in the early weeks of the new year, which isn’t so far away now. Ahead of that, they’ve shared a new single, “In Spite of Ourselves”, a cover of a duet between John Prine and Iris Dements. Viagra Boys’ version sees Seb Murphy dueting with Amy Taylor from Amyl and the Sniffers. Murphy says:
“When i heard in spite the first time i instantly had an urge to do a cover or it and i instantly knew that i wanted Amy to sing Iris Dements part because of her unique voice. i love that she sings with an australian accent which is not too common in country songs ive heard before. ive listened to the sniffers since way back when we started and benke showed me ’im not a loser’. then ive had the privilege of playing with them and hangin out and partying with Amy and the band all over the world and we’ve hit it off from the start. Amy is a goddess of punk rock and a very important part of music today, and one of the smartest people I’ve talked to and it’s an honor to able to make music with her and i hope we can do more in the future!”
Taylor also had nice things to say:
“I was so excited when Viagra Boys asked me to do a duet with them. Sebastian is a classy man but let’s be true, we’re both insanely feral and gross, so the lyrics are perfect, I love tomato sauce and have a foul mouth so it’s like his singing right to me, what an honour. Sebs a country music fan, and so am I, so it was really sweet to do a little nice duet and he actually introduced John Prine to me now i’m a fan. Viagra Boys and Sniffers see each other here and there around when we’re touring, i’ve got all the time in the world for them and their music. Gus our bass player even represents a full VB track suit, hat and all! I remember when we were in London once and Viagra Boys were playing, Gus and Bryce went and ended up sleeping in a park because they had too much fun. I rode a ferris wheel with Benke once when they were in Australia last year. I want to try that hectic stupid canned fish they always talk about. Shrimp Jazz for life!”
While more subdued and atmospheric than most of Viagra Boys’ rip-roaring post-punk, their version of “In Spite of Ourselves” still maintains their dishevelled sound, with shuffling drums, wonky atmospherics, and, of course, Murphy’s intoxicated-sounding drawl. There’s much more genuine love at the core of this though as Murphy brings some hammed-up pathos to the track, which is reflected back by Amy Taylor’s characteristic twang. It’s slightly cartoony, which is also played up by the pretty odd lyrics, but it all adds up to something utterly adorable.
The hammy nature of the song is played up in the video, which sees Murphy and Taylor singing karaoke style in front of a green screen that flicks between a series of unusual images. Watch it below.
Viagra Boys’ Welfare Jazz arrives on January 8 through YEAR001. You can find them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
