"I've Been Drunk in Every Pub in Brisbane" Released: 11 July 2022
"Out on the Street" Released: 15 August 2022
Get Fucked is the second studio album by Australian punk rock band the Chats. The album was recorded in six days in Brisbane and released on 19 August 2022 through the band's own label, Bargain Bin.[3] It is their first album to feature Josh Hardy on guitar, following the departure of Josh Price in 2020.[4]
Praised for being "loaded with more instantly quotable Aussie idioms", the album lyrically explores elements of Australian culture while also "tapping into universal anxieties"[5] including inflation and "racism in surf culture".[6]Get Fucked was preceded by four singles – "Struck by Lightning", "6L GTR", "I've Been Drunk in Every Pub in Brisbane" and "Out on the Street".
In December 2020, it was announced Josh Price, guitarist of the band, had left to pursue a solo career.[10] Josh Hardy, guitarist of punk rock band the Unknowns, replaced Price.[1] In 2021, the Chats released their first single with Hardy, "AC/DC CD".
Recording
Get Fucked was recorded with producer Cody McWaters in six days at Hunting Ground in Brisbane.[11] On the schedule, frontman Eamon Sandwith admitted their "work etiquette wasn't great", as the band would "start at 11 and finish at 4, and in the middle of that we'd go to the pub for lunch for two hours, and have a few beers".[12]
Composition
The album has been described by critics as "tighter, with better playing and a tougher sound" compared to their debut album, due in part to new guitarist Hardy. Andrew Stafford of The Guardian wrote "his playing sets fire to Struck by Lightning and Panic Attack".[13]
Like the band's previous work, Get Fucked lyrically focus largely on elements of Australian culture. "Boggo Breakout" alludes to a 1989 prison revolt at Boggo Road Gaol,[14] and "Southport Superman" – the band's shortest track – references the Queensland city of Southport. "The Price of Smokes" was praised by multiple outlets for its lyricism which NME described "sums up economic hardship with verve and authority" with the song's politically motivated chants which close the track.[15] "Emperor of the Beach", while not explicitly alluding to the 2005 Cronulla Riots, is "clearly about the attitudes that led to them",[13] mocking "beach racists" and gatekeeping.[15]
John Kinsella of the Saturday Paper was one of many critics to point out the band's sonic inspiration from the Ramones,[16] which Sandwith admits – being a "big influence on the record sonically, but also visually".[17]
Release
On 11 March 2022, lead single "Struck by Lightning" was released.[18] On 5 May, the band announced the record would be titled Get Fucked, and that it would be released on 19 August 2022.[19] A second single, "6L GTR", was released alongside the announcement.[20] "I've Been Drunk in Every Pub in Brisbane" and "Out on the Street" were released on 11 July and 16 August 2022, respectively.[21][22] Supporting the album release on 19 August, the band embarked on the Get Fucked Tour in September, alongside support acts Mean Jeans, the Prize and Aborted Tortoise.[3]
According to Metacritic, Get Fucked has received "generally favourable reviews".[26]
Stuart Berman of Pitchfork wrote the album is "fast, crass, and loaded with more instantly quotable Aussie idioms than Crocodile Dundee and Hunter put together", praising the band's evolution from their debut album two years prior.[5]
Andrew Stafford of The Guardian praised the album in a three star review, claiming "it's tighter, with better playing and a tougher sound", but wrote it "lacks some of the naive charm that made their debut so endearing".[13] Ali Shutler from NME similarly wrote Get Fucked was "faster, more furious and more direct than anything the Chats have done before".[15]
Track listing
All tracks are written by the Chats.
CD and digital track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"6L GTR"
2:05
2.
"Boggo Breakout"
1:25
3.
"Struck by Lightning"
1:40
4.
"Southport Superman"
0:34
5.
"Panic Attack"
2:02
6.
"Ticket Inspector"
2:23
7.
"The Price of Smokes"
3:42
8.
"Dead On Site"
1:44
9.
"Paid Late"
2:08
10.
"I've Been Drunk in Every Pub in Brisbane"
1:29
11.
"Emperor of the Beach"
2:57
12.
"Out on the Street"
2:01
13.
"Getting Better"
3:41
Total length:
27:56
"Boggo Breakout" and "Struck by Lightning" have swapped positions on the LP track listing.
"Getting Better" is followed by the hidden track "Jet Lighter" on the LP, and by "Piss Rash" on all other versions.
