Amyl and The Sniffers

Hailing from Melbourne, the four-piece Amyl & the Sniffers delivers a ferocious sound rooted in '70s hard rock and hardcore punk. Led by frontwoman Amy Taylor, the group surfaced in the late 2010s amid a fresh wave of East Coast Australian punk acts. Their throwback look and defiant stance translated the chaos of their concerts onto early releases, including the 2017 EP Big Attraction, whose untamed mix echoed the early work of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Motörhead, and Courtney Barnett. International recognition arrived with the self-titled debut album in 2019, followed by the widely praised second LP Comfort to Me in 2021. Three years afterward they issued their third full-length effort, Cartoon Darkness.

The band's story began in bedroom sessions shared by housemates Amy Taylor on vocals, Bryce Wilson on drums, Dec Martens on guitar, and Gus Romer on bass. Drawing from a disparate array of touchstones—AC/DC, Cosmic Psychos, Dolly Parton, and Die Antwoord—they wrote, recorded, mixed, and put out their first EP, Giddy Up, inside a single twelve-hour stretch in 2016. The self-released follow-up Big Attraction appeared the next year and contained the track "I'm Not a Loser," which highlighted their knack for memorable hooks along with a gritty appeal and irreverent wit.

While building a notorious reputation for live shows, Amyl & the Sniffers landed appearances at festivals such as Bigsound in Brisbane, Meredith, and CherryRock17. Momentum from those Australian successes attracted attention from British and American labels that reissued the early EPs in 2018. The same year brought the group's first headlining U.K. tour plus support dates across America with King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, after which they signed with Rough Trade. Their debut album, Amyl and the Sniffers, arrived in summer 2019 and featured the singles "Monsoon Rock" and "Got You"; it later received the ARIA Award for Best Rock Album. Subsequent headline runs expanded their reach into mosh pits worldwide before they returned home to prepare new material. Amid Australia's wildfire crisis and the global pandemic, the members reconvened in the same house to track their sophomore release, 2021's Comfort to Me. The focused, hardened record included the singles "Guided by Angels" and "Hertz," debuted at number two on the Australian charts, reached the Top 20 on the U.S. album sales chart, and earned Best Independent Punk Album at the 2022 AIR Awards plus Best Group and Best Rock Album at that year's ARIAs. A string of high-profile support slots followed, placing them onstage alongside Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, and others.

Early 2024 saw the release of the single "U Should Not Be Doing That," signaling the arrival of their next album cycle. Produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), the resulting third LP Cartoon Darkness confronted serious worldwide concerns.