Album Review: The Chats - "High Risk Behaviour"

 


Now the last time I had a group land in my review pile from Australasia who were hyped as the next big thing and played ultra-stripped-down back to basics garage punk, it was New Zealand's Amyl & The Sniffers 12 months ago. And...well, let's say I didn't quite see the hype about it. So given that Aussie garage punks the Chats have arrived here with a similar sort of hype, it's safe to say I was a bit cynical going into listening to this one.

Hold the front page though because High Risk Behaviour is...well, it's alright actually. Sounding like Dirt Box Disco relocated to a particularly grotty Sunshine Coast neighbourhood and stripped down to the basics sonically, the Chats aren't big or clever but there's something at least enjoyable about their ultra-knucklehead take on garage punk - all three chord rampaging and songs about booze (Drunk And Disorderly), drugs (The Kids Need Guns), STD's (The Clap), being skint (Pub Feed) and getting beaten up by bouncers (the hilariously sarky Keep The Grubs Out) with gloriously yobbo chantalong choruses especially on album highlight Do What I Want.

It does start to repeat itself a little bit towards the end (always an occupational hazard with this kind of music) but all in all, the Chats sound like thoroughly disreputable scumbags who've probably cadged their instruments from the local pawn shop and basically just recorded the first fourteen songs they came up with in a booze sodden haze. And let's face it, people like that always make the best sort of rock 'n' roll. All in all, High Risk Behaviour is good solid piss-and-vinegar punk rock which gets in, says what it has to say and then gets out again 14 tracks and 28 minutes later. This lot really are the living embodiment of the old Rose Tattoo lyric that nice boys don't play rock 'n' roll and fair play to 'em.

You can download High Risk Behaviour and the rest of the Chats' discography from their Bandcamp page.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

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