The Chats announce Dublin and Belfast shows

Australian rock band The Chats have announced shows at Dublin's 3Olympia on October 9, 2027, and Belfast's Limelight on October 10, as part of their upcoming European and UK tour.

The run will celebrate their third studio album, Half Cut, out March 5, 2027.

"I never even imagined we'd make a single full-length album, let alone three," frontman Eamon Sandwith said. "There were no grandiose plans - we did our first EP in high school, decided 'this is fun' and then just kept on doing it.

"So, if you'd asked me back when we started what I thought our third album would sound like, I'd have said we'd still sound the same; we'd still sound like us."

Half Cut comes four years after their second album, 2022's Get Fucked, and was recorded in a week of sessions in Santa Ana, California - sandwiched between a US run in support of The Hives and their performance at this year's Coachella festival.

"I was apprehensive over that whole 'going to California to record your new album' thing," Sandwith admitted. "So we flew in our friend, Jay Whalley, to produce."

Frontman of Sydney punk-rock band Frenzal Rhomb, Sandwith described Whalley as "a cool guy who we've been mates with for a long time. It was important for us to not be working with some LA industry guy who was going to try and change the sound of the band."

The last time The Chats performed in Ireland was in August of last year at The Academy in Dublin.

"It’d be difficult to think of a sound any more rousing than The Chats’ – messy, loud, abrasive, and yet incredibly controlled and measured, vocals and instrumentals sounding right out of the studio," Hot Press wrote in a review of the show.

Formed ten years ago in Queensland, The Chats consist of bassist and vocalist Sandwith, drummer Matt Boggis and guitarist Josh Hardy.

They released their debut self-titled EP in 2016, followed by Get This in Ya!! in 2017, featuring their single 'Smoko' - the music video for which went viral, depicting taking a workplace cigarette break.

Their next release, 2021 album High Risk Behavior, won Best Independent Punk Album of the Year at the Australian Independent Record Labels Association awards, and peaked at No. 5 on the Australian Albums Chart.

This was followed by Get Fucked, which peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Albums Chart.

Tickets go on sale Monday at 9 am here.