Amyl and The Sniffers: A Whiff of Empowering Punk
The Australian pub rock scene, once a bastion of testosterone-fueled anthems and leather-clad rebels, has been a mostly male-dominated territory. The traditional motto of “blood, sweat, and rock ‘n’ roll” has often seemed exclusive, a code for a certain type of masculinity. Yet, a fresh wave of rebellious energy is emerging. A wave led by women challenging the archaic notion that rock ‘n’ roll is largely a man’s domain. At the forefront of this movement is Amyl and The Sniffers, a band that embodies the raw, unfiltered spirit of punk while injecting it with a bold, feminist perspective. Their latest album, Cartoon Darkness, is a sonic assault that not only showcases their musical prowess but also their unflinching social commentary.
Proudly and unsurprisingly heralding from Naarm (Melbourne), Amyl and The Sniffers are self-proclaimed “fast, pretty violent but charmingly violent, powerful fun” (BBC). Led by the bikini-clad, peroxide-blonde Amy Taylor (Amyl) and backed by “The Sniffers”, Bryce Wison, Declan Mehrtens and Gus Romer, the band is as full of heart and reckless freedom as they are sweat and beer.
Having played with music royalty, Foo Fighters, and recently announcing a 2025 World Tour (see below), Amyl and The Sniffers are breathing humid, clammy air back into the Australian and international punk/pub rock scenes. The four piece, with their lippy, unabashed attitude and three-chord heavy tunes, create music that sells the Australian rock spirit without attaching their artistic identity to stereotypes or “Aussie” characteristics.
Speaking to issues of gender equality, bodily autonomy, neck-bearded haters, tall poppy syndrome, and struggling to survive in a world designed to benefit only the rich, Amyl and The Sniffers call to the boundaryless discontent of the lower and middle class. With punchy, hard-edged melodies and fast, breakneck tracks, the band’s discography, while metrically short, says and does exactly what it intends.
While they aren’t exactly reinventing the wheel (punk and punk-adjacent music has always had a lot to say), the quartet manages to embody a sort of rock’n’roll ferocity that could be likened to AC/DC, Iggy Pop or The Divinyls, but consistently dodges any potential to be labelled as derivative. This, along with the unfathomably big-dick energy of Amy Taylor, flips the pre-existing ‘for males, by males’ tropes of the 70s punk and rock scenes on its ass.
There’s something awfully refreshing about Amy’s artistic spirit, perhaps it’s in her unapologetic expression of feminine rage, or perhaps it’s that off-stage, she’s a bloody sweetheart. Either way, it’s hard not to like her. With her uniform – a bleach blonde mullet and tiny-bikini top with tiny shorts – giving more Arnold Schwarzenegger than Daisy Duke, Amy proves that not all femininity needs to be dainty, and that women don’t owe you comfort. A testament to the duality of (wo)man, it’s no wonder she has been described by The Observer as “a boxer crossed with a wood sprite” and a “punk Energiser bunny” by The Guardian.
It’s in this marriage of outward image and musical tonality that Amyl and The Sniffers thrive. Political while still taking the piss, the band balances discussions of societal issues with just the right amount of comedic relief to prevent their songs from descending into downright wallowing. In their song ‘Knifey’, the quartet document the fear that many women experience trying to get home at night. “Out comes the night, out comes my knifey / This is how I get home nicely” sings Amy in a tone that is both frighteningly unaffected and completely fed up.
While Amy rarely passes the opportunity to (literally) yell about the woes and wins of being a woman, the band also create music that is accessible and relatable to all. In their song ‘Gacked on Anger’, the outfit scream of living below the poverty line, saying “I wanna help out the people on the street / But how can I help them when I can’t afford to eat?” while the track ‘Hertz’ is a disgustingly catchy, ants-in-your-pants tune about wanting to escape the city.
With their previous albums playing like a missile strapped to a raging bull, Amyl and The Sniffers are both the unstoppable force and the immovable object. Yet, listening back to their newest album, Cartoon Darkness, has me wondering if maybe the band took a few deep breaths between sips of Red Bull vodka, so to speak.
Slowing the pace just a fraction (think: Usain Bolt, but he’s a little bit sleepy), Cartoon Darkness presents a new side to Amyl and The Sniffers that we haven’t seen before. Challenging the age of apathy with an air of fun, “Cartoon Darkness is driving headfirst into this looming sketch of the future that feels terrible but doesn’t even exist yet. I don’t want to meet the devil half-way and mourn what we have right now. The future is cartoon, the prescription is dark, but it’s novelty,” Amy told Pitchfork.
Trading their usual balls-to-the-wall punk approach for a more dust-storm-than-sandstorm sound, the band don’t hesitate to give haters a piece of their mind. While their defensiveness might seem ironic, it underscores their point: they’re not here to appease, but to provoke. Discrediting them for this only reinforces their stance. As best said by Amy Taylor herself, “‘If you don’t like us, then that’s on you”.
Tackling weighty subjects with both rebellion and joy, Amyl and The Sniffers simply yell louder in a world that asks you to be silent. The band raises a confident, unbothered middle finger to society and shows that sometimes the solution to these issues is a strong dose of reckless abandon. Shattering the glass ceiling with a metaphorical fly-kick to the abysmal male role models of today (I see you Trump/Andrew Tate/Joe Rogan), the quartet destroys the notion that women must feel beautiful, and that everything is okay if we just look away.
Whether you’re in or you’re out is up to you, but I must say, life is a lot more fun after a sniff.
Written by Keeley Thompson @ballpointpress
This piece was created as part of the 2024 Music Writer’s Lab Commissioning Fund
Listen to Amyl and The Sniffers‘ new album Cartoon Darkness here
Amyl and The Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness tracklisting
1. Jerkin’
2. Chewing Gum
3. Tiny Bikini
4. Big Dreams
5. It’s Mine
6. Motorbike Song
7. Doing In Me Head
8. Pigs
9. Bailing On Me
10. U Should Not Be Doing That
11. Do It Do It
12. Going Somewhere
13. Me and The Girls
