Day 86: Amyl and the Sniffers – Comfort to Me
Album cover courtesy of ATO Records
I’m not feeling too high-energy today, so I thought I’d go for one of the most energetic acts I can think of, Amyl and the Sniffers, to leech some of theirs. They’re a very solid band who I don’t listen to enough and that alone is a good enough reason to listen to them today. I also think the singer is so cool that I don’t know if I want to actually be her, or if I just want to be Mrs Sniffer — it’s what I like to call the Bisexual Conundrum.
I went for their sophomore release, Comfort to Me. It was released in 2021 and written during lockdown after the success of their self-titled debut, which had earned them accolades like the ARIA Award for Best Rock Album and a nomination for the Australian Music Prize.
Comfort to Me is written by the band’s singer Amy Taylor, who says that the conditions that the album was made under affected her thinking and the lyrics she wrote:
Half of the lyrics were written during the Australian bushfire season, when we were already wearing masks to protect ourselves from the smoke in the air. And then when the pandemic hit, our options were the same as everyone: go find a day job and work in intense conditions or sit at home and drown in introspection. I fell into the latter category. I had all this energy inside of me and nowhere to put it, because I couldn’t perform, and it had a hectic effect on my brain.
You can hear that on the album. It’s explosive and in-your-face, but you can get a sense of some of the existential issues she was wrestling with at the time on songs like “No More Tears” and “Capital”. Other songs are more defiant and full of energy, like “Laughing” and the incredible “Security”. “Hertz” is one of my favourites from the record and it’s been kicking around some playlists of mine. Hearing that it was written during lockdown makes a lot of sense. “Knifey” reminds me of that Sylvia Plath quote about wanting to be able to sleep in a field and walk freely at night, but she can’t because she’s a woman.
I think the lyrics are really what sets Amyl and the Sniffers apart from other bands today. I’ve listened to punk bands and gone to gigs since I was a teenager, but it’s not really a scene that I’m into because it always feels like I’m peeking into the window of a boys club without actually being allowed in. But all of the lyrics on Comfort to Me are so clearly written from a woman’s perspective that it makes me feel a stronger affinity to it, it’s no longer something that I feel like I’m kind of not supposed to be enjoying. It feels like it’s also meant for people like me.
Also, seeing live videos of that band just sparks joy. It’s nice to see a woman front a punk/pub rock band and see her just be so unapologetic. When she’s on stage, there’s not an inch of her that’s worried about being too sexy or not sexy enough or unladylike or anything else, she just looks unconcerned with anything other than being herself and putting on a show and pulling everyone else to her level of energy.
It's an easy 9/10, hope I get to see them live ASAP.