Watch Amyl & The Sniffers’ NSFW X-rated video for “cathartic” single ‘Jerkin”
Amyl & The Sniffers have shared a new single called ‘Jerkin” – you can watch the X-rated official video below.
The racy and playful song is the final preview of the Australian punk band’s third studio album, ‘Cartoon Darkness’, which is due for release on Friday (October 25).
“It’s good to express your anger when someone’s been pissing you off and it’s good to have humour in life, especially as a woman, when you’re meant to just passively say ‘everything’s good’ to keep everyone else comfortable,” explained frontwoman Amy Taylor.
“The best part about this song is that a squirter can be anybody’s genitals. I wanted to write a song to big-up ‘the self’ while putting down the ‘other’ because sometimes, even if it’s just for a small window, that’s the best way to laugh something off and empower yourself.”
Taylor added: “World’s pissing me off and breaking my heart more than ever right now, might as well poke it back. It’s pointless but it’s cathartic.”
The track is accompanied by an explicit 18+ music video, directed by John Angus Stewart, and it is available via the group’s official website. It reflects the risqué lyrics of ‘Jerkin” (“I don’t wanna be stuck inside that negativity/ Keep jerkin’ on your squirter, you will never get with me“).
Watch here, or see the censored version below.
Speaking about the X-rated version of the visuals, Stewart said: “The level of offence that a vagina or penis can generate is absolutely bizarre. Once, Amy said to me, ‘If the world wasn’t so fucked up, I’d never wear clothes’.
“It’s the context we stamp onto our sex organs that makes them innately ‘offensive’. This is why we wanted to strip away the artifice and examine the body in an open, conversational way. We approached the project as if it were a performance in itself.”
He continued: “From concept to crewing to casting, we (the production) let the project evolve in the most natural way possible, allowing our subjects to dictate their level of input based on their comfort on the day. We were learning what it was as we were making it, which is basically the opposite approach I’m used to.
“But because this idea was driven by people’s personalities, it felt wrong to do it any other way. We just kept pulling things further and further back until we were left with just a white wall and the human body. I want to come out of everything I do with a different perspective.”
Stewart concluded: “Just as one’s perspective changes with an Amyl song, I want to change in the same way. I think we all walked away from the shoot with an innate need to be less prudish and give less of a shit.”
‘Cartoon Darkness’ has also been previewed by the singles ‘Big Dreams’, ‘Chewing Gum’ and ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’.
During a recent interview with NME, A&TS spoke about recording the follow-up to 2021’s ‘Comfort To Me’ at Foo Fighters‘ Studio 606 in Los Angeles, California. They used the soundboard that spawned both Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ and Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’.
“It was cheap and open,” laughed bassist Gus Romer. “I don’t think any of us ever really gave a fuck about the fact that it was the Foo Fighters studio. “I think people who respect that sort of stuff don’t make the best artwork.”
As for what had inspired ‘Jerkin”, Taylor told NME: “Ah, just a bunch of crap everywhere. Fuck everyone!”
Amyl & The Sniffers are set to play their biggest headline show to date at Alexandra Palace in London next year. Next month, they’ll embark on a UK and Ireland tour before heading out across Europe. Find any remaining tickets here (UK/Ireland).
In July 2025, the band will open for Fontaines D.C. at their huge outdoor gig in London’s Finsbury Park.
The post Watch Amyl & The Sniffers’ NSFW X-rated video for “cathartic” single ‘Jerkin” appeared first on NME.
Tom Skinner
NME
