The ChatsHigh Risk Behaviour

It’s so great that The Chats self-proclaim as “dropkick drongos”. It’s a quintessentially Aussie phrase for a quintessentially Aussie punk band whose brand-new album High Risk Behaviour tells it like it is across a rambunctious spread of shameless sonic greatness.

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The Chat’s love of life is undoubtedly endearing and infectious. Life at home on the Sunshine Coast plays a major part in the thematic interest of the album and it comes with a hectic energy. The Chats have come a long way since their 2017 EP Get This In Ya!, with a tighter, more polished sound that doesn’t forgo any of that happy-go-lucky defiance.

Were it’s Hysteria’s policy to list more than three standout tracks, High Risk Behaviour would be the first release to break that rule–Keep The Grubs Out runs rife will the all too true hilarity of social stigma that comes if you look like you’re a member of The Chats, while Pub Feed, which though charismatically volatile in its rhythms, is as down to earth as it comes.

Are The Chats aware of their seemingly nonchalant devil-may-care attitude? Probably, and that’s what we love about them.

The Chats don’t mess around with the standard punk aesthetic in this one, their formula is simple but it’s not a stupid one. There’s a kind of calculation here. All The Chats need to do to make a banging, sweaty three minutes of greatness is to tell a different culturally relatable tale and maintain an unspoken mantra–keeping it real.

Are The Chats aware of their seemingly nonchalant devil-may-care attitude? Probably, and that’s what we love about them. This is a release that seems like it’s unaware of its attitude at times, but it’s encouraging you to get loose, to live a little, to have fun and not give a s***. Ultimately The Chats are just being themselves, they’re encouraging you to do the same, and when you get your head rocking to this seminal album, you’ll find yourself loving the carefree permissions of these songs and yourself.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Drunk N Disorderly, The Kids Need Guns, Dine N Dash
STICK THIS NEXT TO: Skegss, The Hard-Ons, Amyl and the Sniffers