Cartoon Darkness

We know Amyl & The Sniffers can do highway-caning punk, but being able to intersperse a critical takedown of cynics with a hook so infectiously catchy proves there is another angle to the Melbournites that, when unleashed, it creates something even more powerful than a well-timed sucker-punch.

Amyl and Sniffers have released the album of the year. .... The record speaks as a journey of a woman finding her own worth whether that be in life, relationships or career, and it’s here to inspire you to do the same.

Amyl's best album yet is also their most varied, finding the messy dumb fun in a mad dangerous word. [Dec 2024, p.106]

Cartoon Darkness is a sweaty, visceral thrill, apt for aggressive revelry, driving too fast, and scrapping for the fun of it. It's not a very friendly listen, but that's not the point: confrontational and cathartic, it's existential bloodletting with a warrior's fury and a shredded throat.

There are so many wonderful things happening throughout the album but one minor issue is that it’s 13 tracks long, where 10 or 11 would have done. Simply put, there are a couple too many songs to maintain the momentum of the first half of the album. That said, U Should Not Be Doing That is the best song here.

Cartoon Darkness is the perfect combination of Amyl and The Sniffers’ signature garage punk sound with ventures into poppier, more introspective terrain.

The most striking tracks on Cartoon Darkness suggest a group aware of their self-imposed musical limitations to date, and interested in seeing how far they can push the boundaries of what they do while still essentially sounding like Amyl and the Sniffers.

Cartoon Darkness is brimming with successful experimentation that allows Amyl and The Sniffers to begin carving their legacy in the world of punk, a legacy that promises to grow and evolve as long as the band delivers a shocking change of pace in a rugged yet grandiose fashion.

Smart, funny, characterful, there’s virtually nothing not to like about this record. [Dec 2024, p.88]

The outfit’s edge has found a whetstone that is able to sharpen the previously-established chaos, whilst also adding a gut-punch severity to the overall effect, even if it remains just as playful in its lyricism and garage-band simplicity. Audacious in sound, digestible in focus and a big-bollocked, rollicking good time.

If the band’s grander statements are buried beneath the record’s bursts of crushing speed-punk and pounding buzz-rock, though, their vivifying passion and excitement for a genre too often ploughed through like a chore makes it utterly forgivable. Depths do emerge. [Nov 2024, p.78]

Not every big swing makes contact. The ultra-earnest ballads “Big Dreams” and “Bailing on Me” are overly sleepy, and they interrupt the flow the album establishes with its faster songs. Far better are the record’s experimental flourishes, like the sax on “U Should Not Be Doing That” and the inspired, oddball pairing of jaw harp and vocoder on “Me and the Girls.”

Cartoon Darkness has moments that shine while capturing the essence of rebellion and raw emotion with reflection, silliness and fun, but it’s also weighted down with equal measures of harsh and hectic, rendering it a mixed bag of splendor and skronk.