This week I have new releases from Sleater-Kinney, Born of Osiris, and Viagra Boys! Three music bands that play notes and songs! Dig in!

Sleater-Kinney – Path of Wellness
(June 11, 2021)

I feel kind of bad for Sleater-Kinney. They put out seven great albums in a row between 1995 and 2005, took a 10-year hiatus, came back in 2015 with No Cities to Love (which was every bit as great as anything else they put out before), and then things turned to shit. Janet Weiss quit under less-than-congenial terms before the release of their 2019 album The Center Won’t Hold, which was obviously marred by tensions within the band. And now the band is trying to forge ahead, but it’s just not right anymore. There’s a stain there that’s too big to pretend away.

I’m an apologist for their panned 2019 album. While I agree that it was the worst one to date, I think it’s better than people say. Even I can’t even argue that the band’s identity seemed to be starting to deteriorate, though. Path of Wellness solidifies the obvious collapse. There’s absolutely nothing here worth hanging on to. They sound tired, like they don’t really have much passion about their own message anymore. The music is lazy and complacent. Their lyrics seem uninspired and they don’t break any new ground. “Complex Female Characters”, for example, repeats the snarky “I like those complex female characters/But I want my women to go down easy“, but it lacks the world-weary anger and the sneer that usually accompanies lines like these. The point there is clear, that a woman in this world can never be or do enough to not face criticism on either side of the coin. And the irony for me here, as a man, is that this band isn’t doing enough right now to not face criticism from me either. Trust me, the irony is not lost on me. I hate even writing it.

I just think that, at a time now when we need the fiery feminist message from Sleater-Kinney more than ever, they’re not delivering it anymore. They’ve become irrelevant. And I feel kind of bad for Sleater-Kinney, because they could have a perfect career and now they’re in the middle of this downfall that’s going to start defining them.

Early Verdict:

Born of Osiris – Angel or Alien
(July 2, 2021)

This is a funny situation. Born of Osiris released their fifth album The Simulation in early 2019, intending it to be the first of a two-part series with the second album coming out later in 2019. It never happened, and there was no explanation or any real discussion about it whatsoever. Now, again, in 2021, the band says they have two albums planned for this year and Angel or Alien is the first. Hmm. Yeah, we’ll see.

A million bands come out every single day that sound like Born of Osiris. The chaotic midwestern metalcore band combines deathcore vocals, djent-style palm-muted riffs, progressive song structures, and colorful sci-fi industrial electronics. For what they do, the band is pretty good at it sticking with their established formula of incorporating Egyptian scales to match their name and their musical themes. As usual with metal, I find it hard to judge individual songs for their merits and their deficiencies since, especially here, every song is similar to each other and the album as a whole sounds like the rest of the Born of Osiris albums.

Here’s what I can say: Angel or Alien is not monotonous, and even though a lot of the record is travelling at the speed of light, there are areas of clean vocals and slower, moodier phrases to add some contrast to this weighty 55-minute slab of mathcore. While I’m not really getting anything from it on an emotional level, on an intellectual level it’s fairly stunning and somewhat unique. If nothing else, the music is able to transport you to a slightly unworldly landscape, albeit only temporarily, and that’s actually pretty hard to do effectively for any science fiction-themed metal (adjacent) band. When I get an itch for some progressive metalcore, I find that throwing a Born of Osiris album on will scratch that particular itch. I give Angel or Alien a net positive and it’s a worthy addition to the band’s consistent discography.

Early Verdict:

Viagra Boys – Welfare Jazz
(January 8, 2021)

Ayyyyy, finally getting around to listening to and reviewing one of the first really good albums released in 2021!

Viagra Boys are like if Monster Magnet was a little more cerebral, introspective, and self-aware…but just as sleazy and gross. If Monster Magnet says “I’m gonna fuck you, girl, and drop you by the curb!”, Viagra Boys kind of says “I’m gonna fuck you, girl, and drop you by the curb…but I’ll probably still feel bad about it in 5 years!”. Stylistically, it’s Sweden’s answer to Protomartyr. This is the quintessence of modern stoner punk.

Welfare Jazz is Viagra Boys’ second album, and it’s better than the first (Street Worms) because there’s progression! The music is more complex, with intricate, atonal instrumental flourishes (whether it’s electronic noises or it’s sax-y squonks and flute-y trills) and diverse use of musical styles that run the gamut of cowpunk, country, synthpop, and blues. The lyrics, while not necessarily more sophisticated, are at least more personal and contemplative; Sebastian Murphy, the vocalist, has really gone through some shit and yearns to free himself from his past. It’s relatable and endearing in a scummy way, I suppose. Lines like these from the penultimate track “To the Country”, “Out on the country, we could live like normal people/I could get a driver’s license, drive you around to see things/And out on the country, we’d be real nice to each other/I wouldn’t scream and yell and ramble about my problems“, are honest and pitiful, but there’s a snarky sense of humor throughout that always, always, always buoys the spirits even if the words and the music don’t seem to.

This is a great album in all respects. Are there any other big names coming out of the Swedish post-punk scene these days? I have a feeling these Viagra Boys will end up being influential.

Early Verdict: