Review by Skye Matlock with photos by Beau Croxton

Amyl & The Sniffers live at Pier 17 by Beau Croxton

New York City got lucky last week when Amyl and the Sniffers brought their world tour to Pier 17’s rooftop, promoting their 2024 album Cartoon Darkness. My friends and I ditched our bar crawl plans and splurged on resale tickets to join the chaos. As we pushed through the crowd, one phrase kept surfacing: “Amy Taylor is a force of nature.” It only took a few seconds of their set to understand why.

The Aussie punks’ live shows are the first thing anyone will mention when the band comes up in conversation. Amyl and The Sniffers’ sound pulls from the grit of early Australian Pub Rock, backed by Bryce Wilson’s relentless drums, Declan Mehrtens’ tight guitar work, Gus Romer’s heavy basslines, and Amy Taylor’s feral, in-your-face vocals. Cartoon Darkness leans into imperfection—crunchy riffs, blunt lyrics, unpredictable shifts in energy—giving voice to the beautiful mess of being alive.

l always brace for bad sound at outdoor venues, but Pier 17 took me by surprise. The band’s gear set-up was classic—two Marshall stacks, a drum kit emblazoned with a flaming band logo, and a towering Ampeg SVT atop an 8x10 cab—the rooftop delivered punchy, crystal-clear sound thanks to its 24 EAW Anya loudspeakers and 24 Otto subwoofers. Every riff and lyric hit like we were indoors.

FREAKS TO THE FRONT

We didn’t wait long for the band’s entrance, strutting on stage one-by-one. The first few strums of “Control” immediately made the hair on my arms stand up. I looked over at my friend who was already looking at me, eyebrows raised and head bobbing in a “get ready” notion.

Within 30 seconds, Amy Taylor’s neck veins were bulging, and the crowd went mad. Watching a 5’3” woman in blue eyeshadow lead thousands to scream “I LIKE CONTROL!” felt like witnessing some punk sermon—repetitive like worship music, but for a very different god.

Amyl & The Sniffers at Pier 17 by Beau Croxton

A pounding four-on-the-floor beat signaled the single “Security”, from their 2021 release, Comfort to Me. Amy Taylor belted, “Security, will you let me in your pub— I’m not lookin’ for trouble, I’m lookin’ for love!”- the sincerity in the rage nearly knocked me over.

Up next was “Freaks to the Front”, and pockets of people pushed and punched their way forward. Amy Taylor flew down to the floor to get rowdy with the crowd. This was when I started working my way around others to get to the pool of movement in the center of the crowd. It felt like everyone collectively opened a path for me to get closer. “Doing in Me Head”, “Got You”, “Do It Do It”, and “Chewing Gum” all flowed into each other with continuous thrashing and elbowing.

When I heard Amy Taylor snarl “YOU GOT A NEW DOG, DO YOU REMEMBER ME?” - I completely lost it; I hadn’t jumped that high since middle school gym class. “Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled)” hit like a brick—one of my favorites from their 2019 self-titled release, and a perfect outlet for the breakup I’d been crying about just an hour earlier. Yelling with hundreds of strangers was the kind of catharsis therapy rarely delivers.

Amyl & The Sniffers at Pier 17 by Beau Croxton

“Balaclava Lover Boogie,” “Starfire 500,” “Capital,” and “Guided by Angels” kept the crowd brimming with energy. Then came “Knifey,” which Taylor wrote about a knife she’d carry around for self-defense when walking alone at night. The lyrics of vulnerability were laced with menace.

At this point in the show, I’d made it to the front. From my vantage point at the back, Amy had looked like she was wearing a rhinestone, harlequin patterned outfit. Up close, I realized it wasn’t rhinestones—it was a barely-there ensemble with a pattern of beast-like teeth, made by indie designer underbite girl. While Taylor prowled the stage, the Sniffers played with tight, almost militaristic focus. Respect.

The flanger-riff intro of “Me and the Girls” sounded like a guitar stumbling out of a bar fight.“Me and the girls don't care if were ugly, me and the girls are out having fun!” Hearing men in the crowd singing “Me and the girls are drunk at the airport!” was oddly touching.

Amyl & The Sniffers at Pier 17 by Beau Croxton

Then came “Jerkin’,” another Cartoon Darkness highlight. The lyrics “DON’T WANNA BE STUCK INSIDE THAT NEGATIVITY!” could feel cliché in another context, but they hit like a gut punch when followed by a stream of venomous takedowns and Taylor’s affinity for curse words.

Next was “Tiny Bikini,” a fiery ode to the girls, followed by “Facts” the B-Side to the single “U Should Not Be Doing That”. Taylor challenged objectification of women with lyrics like “I was in Tokyo- showing off my crack! And you told me I should not be doing that!”….What would the world be like if more women wrote like this?

Amyl & The Sniffers at Pier 17 by Beau Croxton

ENCORE

The set closed the main set with the explosive “Hertz”—“I want to get out of here!.” The band exited the stage and quickly returned for an encore of “Big Dreams,” reprising that same lyric with a gentler delivery. The few minutes of tenderness didn’t last. “GFY” wrapped the night with venom and heart. The reception from the crowd was the warmest goodbye I’ve ever witnessed.

As the music cut off and the band vanished, we all stood there covered in sweat and beer, wondering how to carry on with the rest of the night without them. I watched Amyl and The Sniffers put NYC in a chokehold—and I’d gladly let it happen again.