Album review: Amyl And The Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness

'You’re a dumb c**t / You’re an arsehole / Every time you talk you mumble, grumble / Need to wipe your mouth after you speak cos it’s an arsehole, bumhole / Dumb c**t.'

Well, good morning to you too, Amy Taylor. As opening lines to a magnum opus go, Jerkin’ is not exactly, 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. But, delivered over a crunchily classic rock riff with Amy’s classic Wendy-O-Williams-does-Iggy-Pop sneer, it does offer a perfect distillation of where Amyl And The Sniffers find themselves on album number three.

Amy puts the ‘pro’ into ‘profanity’ throughout, keeping the Sniffers’ punk rock credentials thrillingly intact. But all that effing-and-riffing can’t obscure the fact that this immense-sounding record – recorded at the Foo Fighters’ Studio 606 – is primed to catapult these Aussies to the very top of rock’s eucalyptus tree.

Up until now, A&TS – like some of the greatest bands in history (AC/DC, The Ramones) – have walked the fine line between genius and cartoonish absurdity, propelled relentlessly forward by their riotous live performances. But Cartoon Darkness perfectly mainlines that kinetic energy into some A-grade songs to become – as with Back In Black or Rocket To Russia – the moment when a cult underground animation becomes a 3D, flesh-and-blood blockbuster.

So, the Sniffers can still thrash out bone-splintering punk rock knuckledusters with the best of them. But this album also features ultra-catchy hooligan pop anthems (U Should Not Be Doing That, Me And The Girls), classy alt-rock (Bailing On Me) and even some bruised-but-beautiful balladry (Big Dreams).

Amy, meanwhile, has blossomed into an astounding rock star, getting in both your face and your brain with brilliantly confrontational, endlessly quotable paeans to everything from annoying blokes to climate change.

Added together, it makes for an instantly irresistible album that – just like its opening line – is frank, fearless, funny and fucking fantastic.

Verdict: 5/5

For fans of: AC/DC, Hole, The Damned

Cartoon Darkness is released on October 25 via Rough Trade

READ THIS: Amyl And The Sniffers: “This music is about my whole life, and where it will take me. I’m still figuring it all the f*ck out”