The artwork and what inspired it- The Amazons by The Amazons

Words: Kimmi Naidoo

One of the biggest decisions every artist makes in their career is the cover of their debut album, after all it is your introduction to the world and often the first visual a lot of people see when introduced to your music.

The Amazons’ self-titled album depicts their beloved tour van ‘Big Suze’ set alight on the streets of the band’s hometown of Reading. The band described the artwork as a metaphor for the lives they lived in their hometown, expressing that they wanted to ‘celebrate it, but go on an adventure and leave it’ and is also a culmination of the band’s history, as they had shared many memories and experiences whilst travelling in the van together, including the highs of discovering new and interesting places and the lows of breaking down on the side of the road and leaking battery acid on the way to shows.

I think the most effective part of this visual is that the nondescript residential surroundings which mean it could be anywhere and that feeling of wanting to leave a monotonous and mundane life resonates with many people.The album artwork was so striking that it caught the attention of news outlets and cemented The Amazons in the history books as ‘the band that torched their own tour bus’. The only words shown are the band’s logo which was displayed on drummer Joe Emmett’s kit at the time and featured in their visuals in the lead up to the album’s release. This adds to the element of reminding fans of the band’s history, as this logo was becoming increasingly recognised as the band became more popular and with the logo being changed with every album release thus far, it’s a reminder of the evolution of The Amazons.