other titles...
See also...
- 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
Amyl And The Sniffers
Cartoon Darkness
Rough Trade
The Aussies’ third album possesses all their hyperactive, riff-fuelled punk that we love but, sprinkled amongst those signature belters, we have a more poised, reflective smattering of songs that showcase Amy Taylor’s commanding talents as a singer, opening up a whole new room in the Sniffers playhouse.
Recorded on the same desk that captured Nirvana’s 'Nevermind' and Fleetwood Mac’s 'Rumours', this is the Sniffers’ most diverse album yet, stretching from classic punk, to the glammy strut of ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’, to the stormy balladry of ‘Big Dreams’ (which is a sonic gear shift worthy of the title). 'Cartoon Darkness' is about climate crisis, war, AI, tip-toeing on the eggshells of politics, and people feeling like they're helping by having a voice online when we’re all just feeding the data beast of Big Tech, our modern day god. It’s about the fact that our generation is spoon-fed information. We look like adults, but we’re children forever cocooned in a shell. We’re all passively gulping up distractions that don’t even cause pleasure, sensation or joy, they just cause numbness. Everything is such hard work, everything is heartbreaking, but everything is beautiful. I want to celebrate. I want to put my phone down and see someone's facial expression change with what they say. I want to people-watch. I want to see if there are bugs where I walk, but I don't see them. I also want the fantasy and the escapism. I want to lean into hedonism, I want to feel alive, while acknowledging the dystopia and chaos unfolding around me.
'Cartoon Darkness' is driving head first into the unknown, into this looming sketch of the future that feels terrible, but doesn’t even exist yet. A childlike darkness. 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. It's just a joke. It's fun.