Self-proclaimed Australian shed-rock band
the Chats make rambunctious old-school punk peppered with their cheeky, irreverent sense of humor. The trio was thrust into the spotlight when their song "Smoko" and its accompanying video went viral in 2017. That same year, they issued their breakthrough
Get This in Ya!! EP, and by early 2019 had signed a publishing deal with
Universal Music.
Formed in 2016 on Australia's Sunshine Coast, Queensland, the Chats came together while members Josh Price (guitar), Matt Boggis (drums), and Eamon Sandwith (bass, vocals) were still in high school. Named after the local suburb of Chatswood, the trio cited the
Sex Pistols,
Ramones, and
Black Flag as early influences, and the classically scrappy D.I.Y. sound of punk could be heard across their self-titled debut EP, which appeared in 2016. But it would be their follow-up EP,
Get This in Ya!!, that garnered the band attention with the catchy lead single "Smoko" in 2017.
The Chats filmed a low-budget video for the song at Peregian Beach, Sandwith's house, and a construction site nearby. The clip was later posted on a surf store's social media page, where it really took flight, racking up millions of views over the Internet and bringing the band worldwide fame. In July of 2019,
Get This in Ya!! was re-released to wider distribution on
Burger Records. During the runup to this, the band issued a string of characteristically direct, riff-based singles, all of which ultimately appeared on their first full-length release, March 2020's High Risk Behaviour. The album's title was reportedly a reference to a ticket Boggis got from the police for skating in dangerous places. ~ Bekki Bemrose