The Chavs

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Chavs


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = London, England
Genre = Post-punk revival, Garage Punk, Indie rock
Years_active = 2004–present
Label = Unsigned
Associated_acts = The Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things, The Charlatans, Primal Scream, Razorlight, Klaxons, Hatcham Social
URL =
Current_members = Carl Barât Tim Burgess Martin Duffy Andy Burrows Jamie Reynolds Steffan Halperin Didz Hammond Anthony Rossomando Gary Powell Finnigan Kidd

The Chavs are a supergroup formed in 2004, by former Libertines and now Dirty Pretty Things guitarist Carl Barât. Alongside Barât in the band are Tim Burgess of The Charlatans, Primal Scream keyboardist Martin Duffy and drummer Andy Burrows from Razorlight. They made their live debut at the Tap'n'Tin, Chatham in December 2004, where the set included the Libertines songs "Death On the Stairs", "France" and "Road To Ruin", the Charlatans' "A Man Needs To Be Told" and "North Country Boy", Burgess' solo song "I Believe In The Spirit" and festive songs including a cover of "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues.

The Tap'n'Tin is the same venue the Libertines played on the night after Pete Doherty was released from prison for burgling Barât's flat in 2003.

The band also played the launch of Alan McGee's "Death Disco TV", which was shown on Rockworld TV in July 2007. For the gig Burgess, Barât and Duffy were joined by Jamie Reynolds and Steffan Halperin from the Klaxons and Didz Hammond, Gary Powell and Anthony Rossomando from Dirty Pretty Things. The set drew from all three bands' material with "Golden Skans", "North Country Boy" (which merged into a cover of The Rolling Stones classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want") and "Bang Bang You're Dead" all featuring, as well as their own song "Kickin' Against The Pricks", which name-checks the Tap'n'Tin.

The band appeared in almost full format at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival in Lost Vagueness; with Carl, Jamie and Tim. The band was missing Martin Duffy and Andy Burrows but were assisted by Anthony Rossomando, Didz Hammond and Gary Powell in their place. The band appeared on an open mic stage and turned up wearing fancy dress; only revealing themselves after one song.

Tim Burgess has stated that the band plan to record an "avant-garde" debut album in August 2008. [http://www.nme.com/news/dirty-pretty-things/37486] Their official Myspace page claims that they have one already written and rehearsed single they hope to release in the future called 'I Always Crack a Smile'.

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/thechavs The Chavs] – The Chavs official Myspace
* [http://www.rockworld.tv/The-Chavs.html The Chavs on Rockworld TV] – Footage of The Chavs performing live for Rockworld TV at the Cuckoo Club
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,722378,00.html The Guardian] – Goodbye Essex girl, hello Chatham girl; May 26, 2002.
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/content/articles/2004/12/15/music_chavs_feature.shtml BBC] – Chavs in Chatham.