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.

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Hardy is not on Get This in Ya! – original guitarist Josh Price is, along with the band’s original bassist (they no long have one) Tremayne McCarthy, who plays bass only on “Smoko” and spoke the line “Is it Smoko?” The Chats absolutely played “Smoko” at both shows; it’s their breakthrough hit (though it didn’t chart its literally no-budget video has like a zillion YouTube views and was certified Gold in Australia). Other great tracks include “Nambored,” the fabulously anthemic “Bus Money” and the sharply anti-fascist “Nazi March” (sometimes titled “Left Right” for obvious reasons).  The EP is way sparser and lo-fi than their later, full-length LP’s (they recorded essentially live in the studio and no overdubs were added in post-production) – it’s great youthful, working class snotty punk that is both throwback classic 70’s/80’s punk but also fresh and exciting.

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Anyway! They played a ton of super-short tracks, a bunch from their latest release Get Fucked, which went to #2 in Australia and hit #77 in the UK (#3 on the UK’s indie chart). Especially fun was “6L GTR” which is catchy-as-hell and gets stuck in my head for days (not complaining) and “Struck By Lightning” which totally channels their AC/DC heroes; they’ve released both as singles. They may or may not have played some of my other top picks from Get Fucked (I did get a bit distracted by that fucking asshole behind us): “Ticket Inspector” (such a great rat-a-tat-tat attack on that one) “Dead on Site” and the garagey “Emperor of the Beach.” They did play a track from Get Fucked that I’m just OK about, “The Price of Smokes,” but that song was a show highlight; some audience members tossed unlit/fresh cigarettes up onto the stage during most of the song. Singer/bassist Eamon Sandwith tried, unsuccessfully, to catch them in his mouth. We were right up at the rail by guitarist Josh Hardy and watching him was hilarious – he looked borderline flummoxed during most of the show and especially when he played particularly shredding riffs and solos. The drummer was hidden from my view a lot of the time but he looks like a 16 year old California surfer and is just so adorable.

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