At the beginning of 2021, the bug-eyed Swedish post-punk outfit Viagra Boys returned with their sophomore album Welfare Jazz. When I interviewed frontman Sebastian Murphy at the time, he alluded to the fact that they already had another album pretty much ready to go. While it mutated a bit from that point, that album is now on its way. Viagra Boys’ third album is called Cave World, and it’s out in July.

After completing what could’ve been their third collection, the band let it all “marinate for a while” and then decided to re-record everything, resulting in an album that bears some of the original music but otherwise transformed. Murphy ended up writing about evolution and, as a press release puts it, “the misconception… that humanity is moving forward.” “I just wrote down, ‘Who is the true ape?'” he explained in a statement. “People look down at apes as primitive life forms, but we’re just this horrible, lazy society killing each other and starting wars, while they’re able to love and feel. Does that make them the true ape or us?”

Along with the announcement, the band has also shared lead single “Ain’t No Thief,” which they’d debuted live on recent tour dates. It comes with a video directed by SNASK, featuring Murphy as an Evangelical preacher. Check it out below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Baby Criminal”
02 “Cave Hole”
03 “Troglodyte”
04 “Punk Rock Loser”
05 “Creepy Crawlers”
06 “The Cognitive Trade-Off Hypothesis”
07 “Globe Earth”
08 “Ain’t No Thief”
09 “Big Boy”
10 “ADD”
11 “Human Error”
12 “Return To Monke”

TOUR DATES:
09/26 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
09/27 – Oakland, CA @ New Parish W/ SHAME
09/28 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency
10/04 – Tuscon, AZ @ Club Congress W/ SHAME
10/05 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister
10/07 – Boulder, CO @ Fox W/ SHAME
10/08 – Denver, CO @ Gothic
10/10 – St Louis, MO, @ Red Flag W/ SHAME
10/11 – Nashville, TN, @ Brooklyn Bowl
10/12 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners W/ SHAME
10/14 – Cincinnati, OH @ Woodward
10/15 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Smalls W/ SHAME
10/17 – Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall
10/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel W/ SHAME
10/20 – Baltimore, MD @ Union Brewery
10/21 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle W/ SHAME
10/22 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
10/23 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West W/ SHAME
10/25 – New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theater
10/27 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall W/ SHAME
10/28 – Austin, TX @ Levitation
10/31 – Dallas, TX @ Granada
12/07 – DE, Berlin @ Astra
12/08 – DE, Karlsruhe @ Substage
12/10 – NL, Utrecht @ Tivoli
12/11 – FR, Paris @ Bataclan
12/12 – BE, Antwerp @ Trix
12/14 – CH, Zurich @ X-tra
12/15 – IT, Milan @ Fabrique
01/20 – UK, Nottingham @ Rock City
01/21 – UK, Glasgow @ Barrowlands
01/23 – IE, Dublin @ Olympia
01/24 – UK, Cardiff @ Great Hall
01/25 – UK, London @ Brixton Academy
01/28 – SE, Stockholm @ Annexet
03/29 – DK, Copenhagen @ Vega
03/30 – NO, Oslo @ Rockefeller
03/31 – FI, Helsinki @ Vanha Ylioppilastalo

Cave World is out 7/8 via YEAR0001.