Cartoon Black Vinyl Edition

Raucous, muscular, and a ton of fun, the third LP from Australian upstarts Amyl and the Sniffers is one of the most punk moves they could make as their star rises around the world. Instead of getting comfortable with their burgeoning success and altering their sound for a growing mainstream audience, they veer off a cliff with maniacal smiles and wild abandon on Cartoon Darkness, a rabid, defiant collection of middle fingers. Shedding the youthful naïveté of their party-friendly early releases, Amy Taylor, Bryce Wilson, Declan Martens, and Gus Romer confront the harsh realities of a burning world and are pissed off. Tackling weighty global topics and the torrent of issues plaguing the world in 2024, they cope by lashing out at critics, detractors, sexists, racists, and any other bad -ists one could imagine. Building upon their no-frills punk with hulking, stadium-rock scope, 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.

Starting strong with the cuss-filled middle finger "Jerkin'," Taylor takes direct aim at problematic observers with a torrent of expletives and taunts that flip the script against sexist online rabble, while "Tiny Bikini" mocks critics overly focused on her personal fashion choices. She continues with the delightful vocoder-in-the-outback-bounce of the empowerment anthem "Me and the Girls" and the standout "U Should Not Be Doing That," a horn-backed groover where strutting sleaze-rock energy collides with Taylor's unfiltered rebuttal against the toxic sexism she's had to bear from "fans" and critics alike. Anger and frustration are pushed to the brink on "It's Mine," a bloody assault of unhinged punk fury, while the buzzing riffs on "Doing In Me Head" and the nihilistic "Pigs" prime the crew for even larger stages, showing off guitar-hero theatrics that are matched by a killer solo on "Motorbike Song." Shaking things up, "Bailing on Me" is a rare moment of peace, with a tender Taylor singing about heartbreak and vulnerability, and "Do It Do It" offers a fun pogo bounce with a rousing, singalong chorus. Three albums in, the quartet continue to mature and evolve without losing any of the fervor and drive that helped them crash the scene in 2019. On Cartoon Darkness, Amyl and the Sniffers aren't messing around: these are growing pains, the sound of youth opening their eyes and finding the world they grew into is a steaming pile of injustice and misery.

Jerkin'    
Chewing Gum    
Tiny Bikini    
Big Dreams    
It's Mine    
Motorbike Song    
Doing In Me Head    
Pigs    
Bailing On Me    
U Should Not Be Doing That    
Do It Do It    
Going Somewhere    
Me And The Girls