Honest – perhaps the best way to define this Melbourne four-piece, which grew from the city’s pub-rock scene. There’s no flannel, no pretences, just good old-fashioned, down-to-earth music and attitude. In this overly antiseptic world, Amyl and The Sniffers bring the spit and the filth to create a much-needed societal balance. If you are looking for fluffy nonsense or bags of bullshit, look elsewhere, you flamin’ drongo!
They have certainly made their mark on the live circuit. Travelling the world on sold-out tours, they grabbed the attention of Green Day and Foo Fighters, supporting these giants during their stadium tours. They have certainly served their apprenticeship, learnt their craft, and clocked up the air miles. They bring the near-nuclear energy they regularly dispense on stage to their third studio album, Cartoon Darkness.
Cartoon Darkness is about the climate crisis, war, AI, tiptoeing on the eggshells of politics, and people feeling like they’re helping by having a voice online when we’re all just feeding the data beast of Big Tech, our modern-day god. It’s about the fact that our generation is spoon-fed information. We’re all passively gulping up distractions that don’t even cause pleasure, sensation or joy. “They just cause numbness”, asserts Amy Taylor, the band’s singer and all-around powder keg. What does this equate to in terms of their album? Let’s peel off the scab and examine the sore…
“You’re a dumb cunt/You’re an asshole“, screams Taylor to kick off the album. Regarding incendiary openers, you will be hard-pressed to find a more explosive one than ‘Jerkin”. “They like my outfits and hate my success/I am the top bitch/I am the best yet“, Taylor declares as a two-fingered salute to those who think the band is only successful because she likes to wear outfits that make her feel good. It becomes the focus of attention by those who feel challenged by her confidence. The band won two AIR awards (think of the Brit Awards but for Aussies) in 2022 for Best Group and Best Rock Album (for their second release, Comfort To Me) – but some would rather draw attention to the fact Taylor might wear a bikini top and shorts. Did Kylie get this much grief? One thing I am sure of is that the mosh pit will explode when they play this track live.
Loud, scuzzy guitars greet you on ‘Chewing Gum’, the band’s latest single release. A tribute to Taylor’s decision to actively choose the path of fun and freedom, she describes it as, “I’m choosing to be young, and I’m choosing to be dumb, and I’m choosing bad decisions because life is too short to be right all the time”. When you look at the shitstorm that is happening across the globe, it is difficult not to agree with her life choices.
‘Tiny Bikini’ brings the focus back to Taylor and her clothing choices. “Oh, if I didn’t show up in something spicy/The cold world would feel even more icy“, Taylor asserts as she celebrates her love of fashion and body autonomy. As Taylor explains, “I love expressing myself as a scantily clad lady, so the song’s saying: ‘I don’t wanna have to dress masculine just because men surround me, and I don’t want to be interpreted as doing it for all the men that are around me”. The fact that this is something we still discuss and debate in 2024 proves we are not as advanced as we think as a society.
After three blasts of in-your-face rock, the album settles down with something more ballad-shaped. ‘Big Dreams’ sees Taylor’s vocals drift over a brooding, lumbering soundscape as the band demonstrates they can craft a rock song as well as anyone. It is reminiscent of an amalgamation of Nirvana and R.E.M. (Monster era), with a bit of L7 thrown in for good measure. This may be partly because the album was recorded with producer Nick Launay at Foo Fighters’ 606 Studios in Los Angeles – on the same desk that captured Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’.
After that brief interlude, we shift the gears faster than an F1 car on race day. ‘It’s Mine’ feels like an Aussie take on The Exploited, with a furious tempo, fuzzy guitars and the drum kit getting a lively workout. A screeching guitar solo near the track’s conclusion contorts your senses like having a car battery attached to your tongue.
Bryce Wilson lets rip with a rousing drum performance throughout ‘Motorbike Song’, whilst Taylor makes her best Suzi Quattro impression. Observing the control of big tech, ‘Doing In Me Head’ lets her rage surge like water crashing through a dam. “Data brightens up my screen/The outrage connects big tech, I swear it’s true/Thoughts of the gen that were fed by a spoon/Cocooned child where the man should be“, sizzles Taylor whilst the track has a 70s metal ambience.
‘Pigs’ continues with that sonic vibe, with Dec Martens channelling his inner Tony Iommi for the guitar solo at the song’s end. I don’t know if he has a greater frown than the Black Sabbath legend, though. Returning to a more traditional rock sound, ‘Bailing On Me’ examines the evergreen subject of a relationship breakdown. Martens describes it as “the weirdest, not-Amyl song we’ve ever done” – a fair assessment by the guitarist.
Gus Romer takes a starring role next, his bass line getting its hooks into you as it rumbles along like an incessant thunderstorm. ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’ is a song of defiance and determination, with Taylor again sticking it to the doom merchants with fiery gusto. “I’m working on who I am/I’m working on what is wrong, what is right and where I am/I know my worth, I’m not the worst, you told me once I was“, asserts Taylor. Introducing a saxophone creates a sense of the 70s punk band X-Ray Spex. This is a great fit as Taylor reminds me a little of their wonderful singer-songwriter and frontwoman, Poly Styrene.
If I were a gambling man, and I am, I would bet that ‘Do It Do It’ would be an absolute belter live and will be embraced by the audiences at their ‘spirited’ gigs. They are playing eight shows in the UK throughout November, so you can find out if I am right. Wilson’s rapid drums hurtle along like a percussive hurricane, making you want to unleash your finest pogoing.
I remember buying the odd 7″ single with the spindle hole slightly off-centre in my youth. This meant playback had this strange wobbly sound of speeding up and then slowing down. Martens created a sound similar to his riff in ‘Going Somewhere’. While it makes a very interesting and engaging sound, it gives you a mild motion sickness.
“Me and the girls, we don’t want protection/Me and the girls don’t want to be boxed/Me and the girls are gonna go party/You and the boys can shut the fuck up“, proclaims Taylor with a forceful defiance in ‘Me And The Girls’. The song has the punch and passion of The Lovely Eggs at their most triumphant. There’s also a traditional antipodean feeling lurking beneath, boinging along like a wallaby with a rocket up its arse.
Cartoon Darkness encompasses anger, fun, rebelliousness, humour, sadness, honesty, desire, passion and joy. That’s a lot to pack into, around 35 minutes. The result is more killer than filler. There is no space for flabby bits flopping about like a confused halibut. Amyl and The Sniffers are a musically tight unit. They dovetail nicely, which seems to lead to trust in each other. They know they form a fearsome unit when they pull together.
“I get that this album won’t be everyone’s liking – no album should be.” Taylor says of the album, “I know the world is hungry for black and white, yes or no, 010101, but I like things that are abstract and complicated. That’s life.”.
If you have a penchant for hard rock, punk, catchy tunes and well-crafted lyrics, you may get a kick from Cartoon Darkness. If you enjoy ballsy frontwomen in the vein of Debbie Harry, Poly Styrene, Patti Smith and Siouxsie Sioux, you’ll get a kick from Amy Taylor – maybe literally!
Amyl and The Sniffers may come from a land down under, but they are certainly an excellent addition to the United Kingdom’s musical consciousness.
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