With 'Jerkin's music video causing controversy since its release three days ago, Amyl and the Sniffers bare all on Cartoon Darkness with nothing left to hide!
The label “one of Australia’s hottest exports” gets thrown around pretty loosely these days. More often than not, if an act is achieving any level of success on the international touring circuit, they’re “one of the hottest live acts in the country.” Although, for Amyl and the Sniffers, it’s a statement that actually rings true.
Sure, other acts may also be able to boast that they’ve supported the Foo Fighters, toured internationally, or won an ARIA award, but they can’t claim that they went from the sticky band room floors of the Barwon Club and Cherry Bar to fronting campaigns as the faces of Gucci.
Label: Virgin Music Group
Release: 25 Oct – Out Today
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It’s a pretty uncommon feat for any artist, let alone an ocker punk band from Melbourne, but yet, it’s easy to see why they’ve made such a mark. Amyl is authentically Aussie. They’re gritty, loud, and authentic as hell. From their bogan-core aesthetic, to their raucous punk output, and high-octane live sets (which see the groups savagely provocative vocalist, Amy Taylor packing all the energy of a caged rottweiler), Amyl feels like a true insight into Australia. As if, every other Aussie act is Baz Lurman’s Australia, and Amyl are Two Hands.
As such, they’re a group that it’s hard to ignore – especially when they’re opening album’s with the lyrics, “you’re a dumb c*nt”…
But that’s where the group’s at on album number three, Cartoon Darkness. They’ve conquered the world, and now it’s time to piss off the haters. Which is exactly where opener ‘Jerkin’ kicks in, calling out online trolls who “love [Taylor’s] outfits but hate [her] success” with a flurry of insults that rivals the profanity found on Blink 182’s ‘Family Reunion’.
‘It’s Mine’, ‘Motorbike Song’, and ‘Pigs’, continue to chaos, barraging your speakers with all the adrenaline of a souped-up Camry speeding down the Hume Highway, while both ‘Big Dreams’ and ‘Bailing On Me’ try out a melancholic, distortive grunge changeup reminiscent of ‘Miss World’-era Hole.
In line with the “if you don’t like it, piss off” ethos deeply embedded into the group’s sound, Cartoon Darkness is an album fuelled by hedonism and the unrestricted desire to do whatever the hell you want. Taylor’s lyrics shift from sleighting themes of self-deprecation to full-on self-ownership (‘Chewing Gum’), as if she listened to One Direction’s ‘You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful’ and thought, “you know what, you’re fkn right”, while Declan Mehrtens’ pub-rock riffs further push boundaries of the group’s sound, spanning everything from doom-metal (‘Doin In Me Head’) to glam-rock swagger (‘Tiny Bikini’).
Through and through, Cartoon Darkness shows a band with nothing left to prove. They’ve gone through the tough years, hustled the gig circuit, and now they finally have the freedom to be themselves – boy, oh, boy, doesn’t it sound good.
To compliment the album release, the band have announced an Australian tour for January and February 2025. Get pumped by listening to Cartoon Darkness here.
