- Sometimes the more snot nosed and bratty a punk record, the better it is and this eponymous full- length from Melbourne quartet Amyl and The Sniffers might as well have a cold. That's brought about by the fresh breeze they’ve let in through leaving the windows to their share house open, now flitting through their soon-to-be-iconic mullets. This album isn’t constricted by its glaring DIY aesthetic: it revels in it. The band lean strongly into the form previously established by previous grassroots releases and it only amplifies their brash attitude. Not to be continually on the nose, there are hooks buried amongst a whirlwind of outwards energy.
A bouncing riff pulled right out of Red Fang’s beer cooler does double duty as apt album opener and something that would bring in a live set perfectly; a rare feat that immediately spawns the image of physical performance. Taking its name from a pair of roller skates Starfire 500 swings from extended, throttling instrumentals into the body of the song, with the guitars foreshadowing the ensuing vocal melody after a searing, albeit brief solo. That pre-emptive move smooths over the otherwise jarring transformation from belting pub-rock to a more direct sound.
After an explosive entrance you get the chopped and muted guitars of Gacked On Anger. It’s an anthem for those of the perennial underclass: those who are scraping by, almost on the precipice of being deemed untouchable. Down-strummed fury couples with the lyrical tirade and it all gets pounded into being by a two-step friendly beat. Monsoon Rock captures the humorous panic of tour-related, weather enforced cabin fever which ultimately finds salvation in the live show.
It’s not all strident spats, melody driven gems shine like the bright points in X’s back catalogue. The backing harmonies on the chorus of Angel contrast well with the gang vocals of I Got You and indeed they offset each other with different takes on long relationships. The gentler vocal performance and soothing harmonies on the former gives an otherwise neglected sense of humanity. The song laments the emotional toil needed to keep love going in the face of more negative emotions. Such revealing moments are few and far between however. Catchphrase choruses are hooks in themselves on Punish and Shake Ya. Here, much like the album opener, simplicity and repetition will be employed to great effect once brought from record to stage.
Held together with production that raises the bar of fidelity over their previous EPs just a little, Amyl and The Sniffers distil their much lauded live show into a concise album. Throughout this debut, you can’t hear a song without the vision of four bodies thrashing on stage in unison with the crowd in front of them. All it does is make you want to see these high octane songs live; and really, what better way to get people to your shows than to put out a great record?
- Matt Lynch.