Live Review: Amyl and The Sniffers - NX, Newcastle 07/11/2024
Amyl and The Sniffers are touring the world as we speak and brought their ecstatic live show, celebrating new album ‘Cartoon Darkness’, to Newcastle's NX!.
"I'm not looking for trouble, I'm looking for love"
Rapidly rising punk outfit Amyl and The Sniffers recorded brand new album ‘Cartoon Darkness’ with producer Nick Launay (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) at Foo Fighters’ 606 Studios in Los Angeles and released it just last month. The album was released to critical acclaim and shows the band’s versatility in sharing a sound that rumbles, races, and at times softly sways back and forth. They brought this and much more to Newcastle’s NX as part of their world tour.
Opening for Amyl and The Sniffers was American five piece Upchuck, who were the perfect raw and ready punk outfit to open the evening with explosive and vigorous sounds. They played Newcastle on a school night and helped everyone blow off some steam after recent worldly happenings. "Fuck Trump" seemed to be the quote of the evening, making us wonder how once again he has won an election. The Americans and Australians that took the stage shared their thoughts on the matter and confirmed what I've always thought; that music and politics are intrinsically intertwined.
Upchuck brought a politically heavy set of powerful and eruptive punk rock tracks led by a captivating singer who throughout their set took a break when the drummer took the mic and the guitarist took to the drums. A multifaceted supergroup to say the least. Their rhythmic and driving punk was enhanced by smooth transitions and a strong connection with their audience from the getgo. When their singer entered the pit, we hit bingo, this band utilised all components that make for a memorable live performance.
After a brief break Amyl and the Sniffers entered the stage and there was no longer any stopping the show. Thundering on like a high speed train, the group of four fronted by their ecstatic singer gave every ounce of energy they had. They gratefully shared in the energy and explosive moves of their audience, and the love between band and audience was clearly mutual. With such a fanatic opener, the audience had well and truly warmed up and was ready for their dance workout.
Hits such as ‘Jerkin’’, 'Security', ‘Do It Do It’, and ‘Me and The Girls’ received a warm and loud welcome while personal favourites included 'Chewing Gum' and punk ballad ‘Big Dreams’, of the new album they came to celebrate. Singer Amy was beaming from ear to ear and could barely contain her excitement of being up on that stage at a sold out NX. It's no surprise they've been growing an audience so rapidly, with such melodic anthemic punk tracks and a band that is having the time of their lives it is hard not to beam along with them.
‘Cartoon Darkness’ was the band’s first new album in three years and talks about “climate crisis, war, AI, 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.” During their Newcastle show, singer Amy Taylor mentioned that she wasn’t the most articulate person, however she proves that that is in no way necessary when writing songs and talking about the subjects one is most passionate about.”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.” And although that is the sad truth about our everyday lives, it certainly doesn’t come near the truth of the emotions felt during an Amyl and The Sniffers live show!
Words by Laura Rosierse
Photography by Celia Media
