8/10

Since the release of their breakthrough debut album 'Street Worms' in 2018, Viagra Boys have been one of the hardest outfits to truly define. While very much ingrained within the punk scene, the band have regularly incorporated funk, new wave, and psychedelica into their material over the years, giving them this incredibly chameleonic feel. Things were very much along the same lines when it came to their 2021 sophomore outing 'Welfare Jazz', but now we are seeing them explore something new altogether on their third studio album 'Cave World', a record that looks to break down every preconception of them.

Still very much based within their punk ideals, there is this incredibly playful approach to both production and instrumentation throughout 'Cave World'. Each song is its own separate beast when it comes to aesthetic and direction, giving the release a brilliantly fresh and diverse appeal running through it. But despite its untethered and eclectic flow throughout, there is still this cohesive texture to each offering, showcasing the band in one of their most explorative and adventurous spells yet, and breaking the mould of expectation at almost every turn.

Viagra Boys may still be inhabiting the peripheries of the scene right now, but 'Cave World' is so much more exciting and inventive than almost anything else happening at the moment. They are slowly morphing into this smorgasbord of musical evolution that I don't think any of us will be able to fully pin down anytime soon.