Amyl and the Sniffers are an Australian pub rock/punk rock/alt rock band based in Melbourne, Australia. The band consists of vocalist and lyricist Amy Taylor, drummer Bryce Wilson, guitarist Declan Mehrtens, and bassist Gus Romer. Their debut album, Amyl and the Sniffers, was released in 2019. It was followed by Comfort to Me (2021) and Cartoon Darkness (2024).
Background
The Aussie band was formed by housemates Amy Taylor, Bryce Wilson, Declan Mehrtens, and Calum Newton in Balaclava, Melbourne. The four wrote, recorded, and released their first EP, Giddy Up, in twelve hours. In early 2017, bassist Newton left the band to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Gus Romer.
The band takes its name from the Australian slang for amyl nitrite, also known as poppers. Lead singer Amy Taylor compared their music to the drug in an interview with Paul Glynn of the BBC: “In Australia, we call poppers amyl. You sniff it. It lasts for thirty seconds. Then you have a headache. That’s what we’re like!” Meanwhile, the band’s sound has been compared to bands such as Iggy and the Stooges and the initial ’70s incarnation of The Damned. However, Amy Taylor has also cited a more diverse range of influences, such as Aussie rockers AC/DC, American rapper Cardi B, hardcore punks Ceremony, country and western icon Dolly Parton (!), straight edge punks Minor Threat and Brit punk rappers Sleaford Mods.
Discography
In 2017, Amyl and the Sniffers second EP, Big Attraction, was released.
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In 2018, the band recorded their debut self-titled album with producer and former Add N to (X) drummer Ross Orton. It was released on 24 May 2019 to “universal acclaim” according to review aggregator website Metacritic, receiving a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on fourteen critic scores. Pitchfork gave the album 7.2, while both NME and AllMusic rated it 4 out of 5 stars. Meanwhile, Happy Mag declared that vocalist Amy Taylor was “one of the hardest rocking people on the face of the planet.” Singles from the album were:
“Cup of Destiny”
Released: 15 March 2018
“Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled)”
Released: 21 September 2018
“Monsoon Rock”
Released: 5 March 2019
“Got You”
Released: 10 April 2019
“Gacked on Anger”
Released: 2019
On 10 September 2021, Amyl and the Sniffers released their second album ‘Comfort to Me’.
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Singles from the album were:
“Guided by Angels”
Released: 7 July 2021
“Security”
Released: 29 July 2021
“Hertz”
Released: 7 September 2021
In June and July 2022, the band opened for Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Green Day on the European leg of the Hella Mega Tour. In April 2023, the band toured with the Smashing Pumpkins and Jane’s Addiction.
Amyl and the Sniffers fronted their own US headline tour in July and August 2024, in addition to their US shows as support for Foo Fighters.
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On 25 October 2024, the band released their third album, Cartoon Darkness. Singer and lyricist Amy Taylor told Pitchfork that Cartoon Darkness is about “climate crisis, war, A.I., tiptoeing 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. Cartoon Darkness is driving headfirst 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 halfway and mourn what we have right now. The future is cartoon, the prescription is dark, but it’s a novelty. It’s just a joke. It’s fun.”
According to the review aggregator website Metacritic, Cartoon Darkness received “universal acclaim” based on a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 from fifteen critics’ scores. The following the singles were released to promote the album:
“U Should Not Be Doing That”
Released: 21 May 2024
“Chewing Gum”
Released: 23 August 2024
“Big Dreams”
Released: 25 September 2024
“Jerkin’”
Released: 21 October 2024
In 2025, the band opened three huge concerts for The Offspring in Brazil, while also playing a standalone gig in São Paulo.
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Official Amyl and the Sniffers website
Discuss
At Mondozilla HQ, we’ve been aware of the band for a few years. However, we never really got into them until their 2024 album, Cartoon Darkness. The excellent singles “U Should Not Be Doing That” and “Chewing Gum” were also part of that renewed interest.
What do you think of Amyl and the Sniffers? Love ’em or hate ’em?
What song or album initially introduced you to the band?
Have you seen them play live at a gig or festival? How were they?
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