The Chats – “Smoko”
After letting waves of reverb’ed tunes from the West Coast wash over us for the last couple of weeks, I feel like it was time for a musical change. Down here in Dallas, its starting to get a bit warmer, hailing the imminent return of spring and the subsequent return of outdoor concerts and backyard shows. With that in mind, I wanted to give you a little video from Australian punks, The Chats.
Australia has been pumping out top-notch rock ‘n’ roll since its invention. This trio of lads hail from the Sunshine Coast and have a great straightforward punk sound — not too many frills, just driving drums, crunchy guitars and lyrics driven 50 percent by social commentary and 50 percent by laziness. Speaking of the latter, let me take a moment and explain what “Smoko” is. Think in the way the British use “tea time” as a synonym for a break, Australians use “Smoko.” This is just a 3-minute song sayin’ “I’m on break, so leave me alone.” We’ve all said that (or at least thought it pretty loud) and The Chats just put in a catchy lil’ tune on their second EP, Get This in Ya. I like their DIY (aka no budget) video as it fits perfectly with the raw aesthetic that is punk rock. Perfect in its imperfection, in a way.
Are they very musically prolific? No. Is this video groundbreaking? No. Are the lyrics a view into the human condition? Certainly not, but can you turn this up to 11 and stick it to The Man when the occasion arises. Glad to see punk isn’t dead…at least in Australia.
<3 dave.
