Album Review: The Chats – High Risk Behaviour

After catching The Chats deliver one of my favourite concerts of 2019 at The Ritz in Manchester last year I’ve been looking forward to the release of their debut full length “High Risk Behaviour“, despite being the subject of a scramble by record companies to sign The Chats they have retained their DIY approach, and they will release “High Risk Behaviour” via their own Bargain Bin Records imprint on the 27th March. If you’re expecting subtlety  from the Aussie trio then you’re going to be disappointed, this is an album that rages against life’s minor inequalities and annoyances and celebrates the things that make The Chats happy, that are mostly beer flavoured, or addresses the after effects of doing all the things that make them happy.

I have no idea whether The Chats grew up listening to first wave punk bands, or if this is a natural progression and the Australian punk scene has managed to go full circle, but that’s what “High Risk Behaviour” sounds like. The Chats debut full length is the sound of punks roots, but thankfully this isn’t wallowing in the past, this is fast, raw punk rock delivered in short bursts, most of the tracks are under two minutes and none break the three minute barrier. There’s no recycling of their previous releases on here, “High Risk Behaviour” contains fourteen new tracks, and as long as The Chats keep drinking, and experiencing the regrets of the morning after, they’re not going to be short of inspiration to fuel their future releases. The Chats are a band that sound like a juvenile delinquent that was born out of a drunken one night stand between The Adverts and The Saints in the back alley of a pub, “High Risk Behaviour” is not big and it’s not clever, but it is fun.

The Chats deliver punk rock that carries the attitude of 1977 but it is channelled through a youthful vision that reminds those of us of a certain vintage why we fell in love with punk in the first place, but we are not their target audience and the largely teenage crowd I witnessed on their last UK tour do not need any convincing, they will buy, stream or steal this album and will then scream it back at The Chats on their next tour, to be honest that is what I’d recommend you do whatever your age. Sometimes your expectations can be unrealistically raised when you are lucky enough to catch a band live on one of those incendiary nights that can never be replicated in a studio, this is not the case with The Chats latest full length, they are riding the crest of the new wave of snotty young punk bands that give you hope for the future, a future that looks bright, it also looks Aussie.

“High Risk Behaviour” can be pre-ordered via The Chats website here