10 Best Rock Albums Of 2021

10. Welfare Jazz – Viagra Boys

Matt Sweeney is primarily known as the touring guitarist for acts like Iggy Pop and Queens Of The Stone Age, but every now and then he lends his punk ear to the production side of things. Welfare Jazz is his latest endeavour behind the mixing desk. Teaming up with Swedish band Viagra Boys to help produce one of the most exciting, punchy and weird albums of the year.

Viagra Boys have combined post-punk with a jazzy horn section and a touch of American country music. More and more acts are fusing ever stranger musical styles together, some times it works and sometimes it doesn't. But with these guys they seemed to have found the right blend. Primarily this record is full of driving post-punk dance numbers, with plenty of fuzzy bass lines to underpin the outburst of antisocial frustration, from singer, Sebastian Murphy.

Towards the end of the record they start injecting a bit of country into their sound. Aussie punk, Amy Taylor, joins Murphy to perform a truly unique rendition of John Prine's country ballad, In Spite of Ourselves.

Country-style vocals are overlaid, atop a mixture of industrial drum beats and brooding synth melodies. The effect produces a post-apocalyptic folk ballad that isn't without appeal.