You know, the world can be a confusing place. Climate Crisis, War, brat Summer – mixed messages and information overload is rife. So, it’s bloody lucky we have Australia’s favourite band of snotty punk drongos, Amyl and The Sniffers, to scythe through the haters and make sure that shit chat gets banged.

Third album Cartoon Darkness, summing up the stupidity and seriousness of the modern age, leaps off the page as soon as the needle is down. Opening track ‘Jerkin”, throwing out C bombs from the first bell: “keep jerkin’ on your squirter, cunt / you will never get with me” might seem like lowest common denominator stuff to the untrained ear, but therein lies the crux of the Sniffers appeal: driving punk rock with a crystal clear message carried on a quarry full of boulder-sized noise.

Furthermore, anyone grumbling the A&TS sound is formulaic can also get in the sea when the formula – bone splintering riffs, furious and funny spat-back vocals, drums like a landslide – is this much fun. Lead single ‘Chewing Gum’ is the band at their best, bouncing about the room to a finger-clicking verse before erupting into a firewall of distortion.

It goes without saying, the band’s MVP is their ferocious blonde lynchpin Amy Taylor. Already a nailed-on rock icon in her own right, she weaponises the “dumb blonde” stereotype for maximum impact, especially on ‘Tiny Bikini’ or biting back at criticism with ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’, which she delivers like Run DMC cosplaying The Slits. Sinewy, playful and absolutely relentless in a live setting, the whole band are also crammed full of her sneering Bogan energy.

The twin force of smirking aggression is a well of strength they draw from with frequently. Indeed, these guys are just as liable to tweak your nipple as crack your jaw, and they are smart enough to use it to their advantage. Lyrics like “I wanna ride you like a Harley D / you’ve got the intelligence and you yearn for me” (‘Motorbike Song’), pop up all over each track, so any suggestion of a lack of sophistication can just rack off.

Cartoon Darkness will see Amyl and The Sniffers continue their unstoppable rise, flying the flag for raucous rock and turning donuts in the Ute. Life would be drag without them.