Beach Rats

Coming together from a cross section of hardcore's top-shelf legends, New Jersey supergroup Beach Rats was formed in late 2017 by ex-members of Minor Threat, Lifetime, and Bouncing Souls. As one might expect from a group of such esteemed punk rock pedigrees, Beach Rats play loud, fast, and inventive hardcore with nods to the classic sounds they helped form as well as newer ones, as documented on their five-song debut EP, Wasted Time, issued by Bridge Nine Records in the summer of 2018. In 2021, the band finally had enough downtime from their other projects to cut a full-length album, and 2022's Rat Beat added a bit more lyrical depth to their precise, old-school hardcore sound. Beach Rats formed in the fall of 2017 in New Jersey. The band included guitarist Brian Baker (a one-time member of multiple legendary hardcore bands such as Dag Nasty, Government Issue, Minor Threat, Bad Religion, and more), vocalist Ari Katz (formerly of Lifetime), guitarist Pete Steinkopf and bassist Brian Kienlen (both of Bouncing Souls), and Jersey-based drummer Danny Windas. All of the members besides Baker joined forces to play a one-time tribute concert for deceased Vision vocalist Dave Franklin. The quartet performed covers of Vision songs at the concert, and it went so well that Katz contacted Baker about joining the fold and writing some original songs. This laid-back approach from a crew of seasoned players quickly resulted in a batch of exciting melodic hardcore songs. As longtime friends, Beach Rats joined forces quickly and were in the studio recording their new material in no time. The band's debut EP, Wasted Time, was the result of minimal recording time and was issued in July 2018. The Massachusetts punk label Bridge Nine stepped up to release the EP, and the group played out as their schedules permitted, often blasting through short sets at festivals or as openers for one of their other groups. As the COVID-19 pandemic shut down their main projects in 2020, the members of Beach Rats finally had time to work on new music, meeting in Baker's basement (with the windows open and all parties wearing masks) to work out songs and knock them into shape. In 2021, they were ready to record again, with a set of tunes once again informed by classic hardcore, but with a more personal lyrical edge informed by the changing world around them. Booking time at Asbury Park's Lakehouse Recording Studios, the Beach Rats emerged with 2022's Rat Beat, which was released by leading punk imprint Epitaph Records.
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