Viagra Boys release ominous John Prine cover, new video
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Swedish post-punk group teams up with Amy Taylor for “In spite of ourselves”
Viagra Boys and Amy Taylor of Amyl and the Sniffers have released an unconventional tribute to the late John Prine.
The cover comes as a single off the Viagra Boys upcoming album “Welfare Jazz.”
The song dropped with a music video by PHC films, which features frontman Sebastian Murphy and Amy Taylor dressed in shawdy country garb, dancing in front of seemingly random green screen backdrops.
The original track by John Prine, who passed away from COVID-19 early this year, has a sweet folksy melody. The Viagra Boys cover goes in a darker more ominous direction, with industrial sounding, post punk textures giving the song a new twisted twist.
When you listen to the original track, it’s hard to notice some of the x-rated content in the lyrics. But darkening up the instrumentals brings Prine’s weird wit to the forefront.
Lines like “Convict movies make her horny,” and “He’s got more balls than a big brass monkey / He’s a wacked out weirdo, and a love bug junkie,” stand out more when they’re sung over heavy distortion by two greasy punks.
The two singers recorded their portions of the video in different parts of the world. Stitched together over green-screen screen, the artists are celebrating the punk idea of doing it yourself and rising above.
The DIY look of the video combined with the John Prine song is a testament to music — and artists — ability to keep going in times of strife. It has a distinct quarantine feel to it, but it’s also distinctly punk-rock.
Viagra Boys “Welfare Jazz” is out on January 8th, 2021.
