In the eight years since Amyl and The Sniffers came together in Melbourne's bubbling music scene, the band has perfected the ability to combine playfulness and raw power. With the two unanimously acclaimed albums released so far (the self-titled debut in 2019 and "Comfort To Me" in 2021), singer Amy Taylor, guitarist Declan Mehrtens, bassist Gus Romer and drummer Bryce Wilson have established their unique style. Since the release of "Comfort To Me", the band's perspectives have expanded exponentially in every way. Bigger, clearer, smarter, sharper, that's what now drives the band's third album. The band recorded "Cartoon Darkness" together with Nick Launay in the Foo Fighters' 606 Studio in Los Angeles, on the same desk that produced Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" and Nirvana's "Nevermind". It's a surprisingly varied album, ranging from classic punk to the oozing glam of the single "U Should Not Be Doing That" to the rollicking balladry of "Big Dreams." "Cartoon Darkness" is about war, the climate crisis and artificial intelligence, politics and the feeling of having a voice online, when in the end we're just feeding the data beast that is Big Tech, our god of the present. It's about how our generation is being stuffed with information, how we act like adults and yet remain children forever, shielded like in a cocoon, devouring all the distractions that don't even bring us well-being or joy, just numbness. "Cartoon Darkness" runs headfirst through the wall into the unknown, into the approaching sense of a future, a childlike darkness that feels terrible but doesn't yet exist - great rough fun.
