Amyl and the Sniffers: Cartoon Darkness

Australia has always had its fair share of rock and punk bands, and the tradition continues today with artists like The Chats, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and Amyl and the Sniffers, just to name a few.

Amyl and the Sniffers new release, Cartoon Darkness, continues where they left off with 2021's Comfort to Me. Cartoon Darkness and its thirteen songs clocking in at just over 33 minutes, is a little rattier and raw sounding than Comfort to Me, which was a bit more produced and polished sounding. The lyrical themes range from social issues, AI and big tech, climate change, and war. The tracks range from the full on assault of songs like "It's Mine" and "Pigs", to the mellow and almost Courtney Barnett sounding "Big Dreams". Singer Amy Taylor is still channeling Wendy O. Williams of the Plasmatics, which is welcome in a world where so much of the music being released is sanitized, polished and packaged for the masses.

Produced and mixed by Nick Launay (Tape Op #105), Cartoon Darkness is as mentioned a little less "big rock" sounding than its predecessor, but is still a well-crafted and thoughfully presented album with short, to the point songs with little to no fluff or self-indulgence.

Amyl and the Sniffers were guests on the Tape Op Podcast in 2022 and you can listen to that HERE!