Welfare Jazz

The album was produced by Pelle Gunnerfeldt, Daniel Fagerström, Justin Raisen, Fabian Berglund aka DJ Haydn, and Patrik Berger.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

In a press release, lead vocalist Sebastian Murphy said of the album: "We wrote these songs at a time when I had been in a long-term relationship, taking drugs every day, and being an asshole. I didn't really realise what an asshole I was until it was too late, and a lot of the record has to do with coming to terms with the fact that I'd set the wrong goals for myself."^[6]

In comparison to their debut, Welfare Jazz is less claustrophobic and oppressive, however, the song "Girls & Boys" manages to pushe these qualities to the extreme. The back-and-forth vocal duet on "In Spite Of Ourselves" draws a comparison to The White Stripes' song "It's True That We Love One Another".^[11]

Lyrically, "This Old Dog", "Secret Canine Agent", and "Girls and Boys" bridges an analogy between likable canine behaviour and less desirable human qualities.^[11]

On 15 October 2020, Viagra Boys announced the release of their second studio album.^[12]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.8/10[16]
Metacritic	78/100[17]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Beats Per Minute	77/100[18]
Clash	8/10[19]
Consequence of Sound	B[20]
DIY	[11]
Exclaim!	8/10[21]
The Line of Best Fit	8/10[22]
MusicOMH	[23]
NME	[24]
Pitchfork	7.2/10[25]
Under the Radar	8/10[26]

Close

Welfare Jazz was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 78 based on 16 reviews.^[17] At AnyDecentMusic?, the album received a 7.8 out of 10 based on 22 reviews.^[16]

The song "Creatures" was singled out as the high point of Welfare Jazz. It's one of the cleanest and more melodic songs, the "finest example" where the band explore their style, "find something that sticks, [and] exploit the hell out of it".^[18][11]

Writing for Clash, Josh Gray said: "Much like their 2018 debut Street Worms, Welfare Jazz concerns itself with the internal lives of the scuzziest dregs of humanity: no-good drifters who lug their vintage calculator collections from couch to couch, self-deceiving junkies who regale hallucinatory conversations they have with their dogs with the listener, alcoholics who scream and ramble on about their problems and other assorted bottom feeders."^[19] In a review for Exclaim!, Sarah Morrison gave the album an 8 out of 10, saying "the album occasionally takes the foot off the gas, to great effect. As Viagra Boys have done on previous releases, Welfare Jazz also features a handful of interludes, a breath of fresh air from the smoky, heavy din of its basement mosh pits." She also went on to say the album is "a massive shift from previous releases, both musically and lyrically.^[21]