The Chats “High Risk Behaviour” 2020. Bargain Bin Records. Limited Edition, Queenslander variant vinyl. The snotty Australian punks’ debut LP. We caught The Chats last night when they opened for The Hives at the Salt Shed in Chicago. So fun! This our third time seeing The Chats; this show’s extra highlight was the addition of a large black bucket for Eamon (singer/bassist) to spit in during the show. At previous concerts he didn’t bother with such niceties, with one spectacular gob landing on the ceiling of the Rave (basement) where it stayed, growing longer and longer, for the duration of their set. Anyway! High Risk Behaviour has a few of my favorite Chats tracks, including the single “Pub Feed” which they closed with last night. It’s a perfect punk song: simple, short, snappy, and fucking hilarious. Other standouts on High Risk Behaviour include the punk anthem “Drunk N Disorderly,” another naughty punk behavior song “Dine N Dash,” the punk personality descriptor “Stinker” and the Motörhead rager “Billy Backwash’s Day.”

High Risk Behaviour went to #5 in Australia. It is their only album with original guitarist Josh Price. Josh Hardy replaced him and I delight in his flummoxed expression at every single strum, shred and solo he plays. It’s like he’s super shocked at how good he is.