Amyl & The Sniffers – Comfort To Me review

You took your lockdown(s) as you could; circumstances, strains and outcomes varied. For Amyl & The Sniffers it meant a year or so sharing the same house in Melbourne in the intense heat and mind-dulling containment. Singer Amy Taylor has described her personal process with “I was like an egg going into boiling water when this started, gooey and weak but with a hard surface. I came out even harder. I’m still soft on the inside, but in a different way.”

Opinions vary on whether eighteen months of global paralysis has meant for better music, a question which in itself means little in the face of so much human tragedy. For Taylor & co. however the time to reflect at least enabled them to pour the added proficiency they’d gained from two solid years of touring into Comfort To Me, a record which amplifies their influences (Motorhead, classic punk, Riot grrrl, hardcore) but this time goes further than tunes about booze and brawling.

Taylor douses lyrics on male violence (Knifey), the environment (Capital) and discrimination (Security) with her accelerant yowl, whilst the moshpit-friendly Freaks To The Front is the quartet at their most ball grabbing. Comfort To Me is a record created inside four walls which threatens to knock them down; where Amyl & The Sniffers go next remains a question for less serious times.

You can read the full review here.