Get This In Ya!!＜限定盤/Hi-Vis Orange Vinyl＞

Australia's the Chats gained viral fame in 2017 with their cheeky slacker anthem "Smoko." A bit of a novel throwback to early-'80s-style punk, the song caught attention online buoyed largely by a humorously game, lo-fi video. Especially notable was ginger-mulleted lead singer/bassist Eamon Sandwith (backed here by bandmates Josh Price on guitar and Matt Boggis on drums), who snarls with throaty glee like a 7-11 version of AC/DC's Bon Scott throughout the group's sophomore EP, 2017's Get This in Ya!! Reissued to wider distribution by Burger Records in 2019, Get This in Ya!! plays like a lost punk LP from SST or Lookout! Records. These are quickly recorded songs with a raw energy that consistently works, primarily because of the Chats' sublimely boneheaded sense of self-aware humor and their garage-band swagger, rather than any strong technical abilities. "Smoko" (slang for a smoke break) alone is worth the price of admission with its shouted mantra of "I'm on smoko, so leave me alone." Particularly compelling is the song's latter-half breakdown in which Sandwith decries his lack of funds, shouting "So it's Tuesday morning and my Centrelink hasn't come through/So I pick up the phone because I've got some abusing to do/But all I get is elevator music/Waiting on the line/On hold all the time." While "Smoko" certainly stands out as the highlight of the album with its fist-pumping build, the rest of the songs match it nicely. There's the similarly situational "Bus Money," in which Sandwith skips his ride home for a longneck and Bic lighter. There's also the menacingly jaunty "How Many Do You Do," in which he simply counts things -- from darts at the pub to local dingoes. You can tell just how closely the Chats have listened to their classic punk forebears in working to craft their own DIY sound, but thankfully, Get This in Ya!! never sounds anything but youthful, fun, and furiously delivered. ~ Matt Collar