Cartoon Darkness

Released

Amy Taylor feels like a cartoon character sometimes, Popeye in a bikini top and booty shorts taking down bullies and Blutos with a broad Australian sneer rather than spinach-enhanced biceps. Not much in the way of range but she makes the impact felt. The third album from these down-under bar brawlers crackles with the same rowdy energy inherited from their forebears in AC/DC and Rose Tattoo. While brash and bold, there’s enough variety to keep things fresh – “Big Dreams” and “Bailing on Me” provide brief breathes before the band launches back into some fierce kung fu kicks with tunes like “Chewing Gum” and “Me and the Girls.” “U Should Not Be Doing That,” first single and album highlight, finds its groove in a very pointed rebuke at a very specific individual whose betrayal now lives in song, immortal.

Jeff Treppel

Suggestions
Wreckless Eric cover

Wreckless Eric

Wreckless Eric
Bought to Rot cover

Bought to Rot

Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers
The Interrogator cover

The Interrogator

Digital & Spirit, The Paranoid Style
Ramones cover

Ramones

Ramones
Three Chords Good cover

Three Chords Good

Graham Parker & the Rumour