GET FUCKED
Subtlety is not The Chats’ strong point. Exhibit A is the blunt-as-it-comes title of the Queensland trio’s second album, a 13-song record in which only two of its tracks surpass the three-minute mark. Add the fact that bassist-vocalist Eamon Sandwith sings like a chainsaw, snarling and raging over a series of tightly coiled riffs that rarely dip under hyper-speed, and you have the sonic equivalent of a swift boot to the face. Recorded in six days, the album finds Sandwith’s everyman lyrical focus taking in subjects such as the cost of cigarettes (“The Price of Smokes”), hoon driving culture (“6L GTR”), and being busted for buying an under-14s train ticket (“Ticket Inspector”), all with a turn of phrase that’s unquestionably Australian. (“Starin’ at the ATM/It says insufficient funds/That’s just not good enough/’Cause right now I wanna get drunk,” he growls in “Paid Late”.) More sober themes occasionally pop their heads over the bar (“Emperor of the Beach” lambastes surfers who view the beach as their own), but even they’re delivered as delicately as a headbutt. And if you don’t like it? Well…you know what you can do.
Like bassist and vocalist Eamon Sandwith’s already iconic bowl-cut/mullet combo, Get Fucked is militaristic severity up front, party in the back.
The Sunshine Coast punks continue to fight for their right to party, showing the finger to anyone who stands in their way
Scruffy Aussie punk lads The Chats return with more of the same simple genius and bar stool observations on electrifying second album…
They’re pushing the accelerator right to the floor, and there’s no sign of them hitting the brakes any time soon.
When a punk band call their album Get Fucked, you pretty well know what you're in for, and Australia's the Chats are not here to defy expectations.
On their second effort, Get Fucked, The Chats look primed to step up on the higher echelons of modern punk and Australian exports.
They may never recapture the naive charm of their viral debut – but the playing is tighter, the music tougher, and the songs still crackle with energy