GIG REVIEW: The Chats + Chubby And The Gang + Dennis Cometti, Boiler Shop, Newcastle, Friday 25 March 2022
Despite the counter-attraction of anarcho legend Steve Ignorant and his band doing a Crass set up the road at Newcastle University, I decided to check out a couple of bands who are turning a new generation onto punk rock.
The Chats are a young Australian punk band who have just a couple of EPs and one album to their name, but already include Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and Iggy Pop among their high-profile fans.
Formed in 2016 on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, they describe their sound as “shed rock”, and sing songs about being young, getting drunk, and having a good time.
All still in their early 20s, they take their name from the phrase “that’s chat” – Australian slang to describe something gross.
This date was originally meant to take place in late 2020, but was postponed for obvious reasons. Now, back on the road at last, they’re clearly relishing it, smashing through 25 songs in 50 minutes.
Combining the drive of ’60s garage punk with ’70s new wave, and influences such as The Saints, Buzzcocks and the Ramones, they manage to make a sound all of their own.
Bassist Eamon Sandwith spits out the lyrics as he, drummer Matt Boggis and new-ish guitarist Josh Hardy (despite an injured hand) slam through their short, sharp blasts of punk rock, full of youthful vim and vigour.
They arrive onstage carrying a life-size cardboard cutout of Robbie Williams as the PA pumps out Rock DJ, but the ‘frontman’ lasts just one song before Hardy banjoes him with his guitar and throws him into the crowd!
Sandwith says The Chats “just make songs for people to jump around and have fun to”, and the crowd was certainly up for that from the off as the set kicked off with Nambored from their second EP Get This In Ya.
Most of their album High Risk Behaviour got an airing, with the highlights including Dine And Dash (about leaving a restaurant before your bill arrives) and the standalone single AC/DC CD (about ‘the second-greatest band in history’).
Viral hit Smoko, with its dirty bassline, went down a storm towards the end of the set, but it’s perhaps an indication of the youth of The Chats’ audience that many of them didn’t seem to recognise their spirited cover of Sham 69’s Borstal Breakout.
They finished with fan favourite Pub Feed, and were gone, with no encores, but a bloody good time was had by all, and if this is the sound of young punks breaking through then I’m all for it…
The night’s entertainment opened with a 30-minute set from Dennis Cometti, a three-piece garage-punk band from Perth, Western Australia, who are named after a legendary Australian football commentator.
Continuing with the sporting theme, they all wore blue and white football tops, and look like they’ve come off the set of one of those retro 118 adverts. Mustachioed singer Alex reminded me for all the world of crap ’80s QPR and Newcastle winger Wayne Fereday (Google him kids – you’ll be amazed)
They are a self-confessed attempt to sound like the Ramones crossed with AC/DC (yep, those two again, but they could do far worse), and their half-hour set went down well with the early arrivals.
After a couple of self-released singles and an EP, their self-titled debut album came out on The Chats’ Bargain Bin Records in October, and you can see why they’ve been asked to tour with them, as they’re a good fit, but unlikely to steal the show.
Songs like WAXIT, On The Sauce and Footy With The Boys slipped down nicely as the fans enjoyed a couple of cold ones, and they also aired two new songs, Death Rattle and Limiter, which make up their new single.
Sandwiched in-between the two Antipodean visitors was a home-grown band who are being talked about in some circles as one of the must-see acts on the London punk circuit.
Chubby And The Gang are a five-piece who were formed in 2019, and have two albums under their belt, 2020 debut Speed Kills and last year’s follow-up The Mutt’s Nuts.
They’ve recently finished a support slot with up hardcore legends-in-waiting Turnstile, and their set was full of energy, with frontman Charlie bounding around the stage a la Henry Rollins.
Guitarists Ethan Stahl and Tom “Razor” Hardwick throw out riff after riff over the bass of Maegan Brooks Mills and drums of Joe McMahon, but the band were hampered by a muddy sound, which didn’t get any better wherever you stood.
Kicking off with their anthem Chubby And The Gang Rule OK, their 40 minutes was fairly evenly split between the two albums, with the TMN singles Lightning Don’t Strike Twice and Coming Up Tough hitting the spot.
They finished with a trio of tunes from their debut album, Moscow, Pariah Radio and All Along The Uxbridge Road, but the standout song for me was TMN track Pressure, just before that final run.
Some might think Chubby And The Gang rule, and they’ve certainly got the songs, but the sound in this former locomotive workshop did them no favours, so on this showing I’d settle for OK, but will reserve proper judgement until I’ve seen them in a more intimate venue.
