Bad Religion, The Bouncing Souls, Lifetime & Spanish Bombs Members Form Beach Rats & Release Wasted Time EP (Bridge Nine Records)
Beach Rats is a New Jersey-based Hardcore band consisting of vocalist Ari Katz, guitarist Brian Baker, guitarist Pete Steinkopf, bassist Bryan Kienlen, and drummer Daniel "Dubs" Windas. Amongst them, Beach Rats have about 32+ collective years spent recording, touring, and melting faces within countless New Jersey & New York-based Punk/Hardcore bands. Brian Baker alone has played with Bad Religion, Dag Nasty, Dead F**king Last, Doggy Style, Government Issue, Junkyard, The Meatmen, Minor Threat, Pavement (no, not that Pavement,) and Samhain. Ari Katz has spent his time playing with High School Sweethearts, Lifetime, Miss TK & The Revenge, and Zero Zero, while Pete "The Pete" Steinkopf & Bryan "Papillon" Kienlen have both been long-time members of The Bouncing Souls. Drummer Daniel "Dubs" Windas, the greenhorn of Beach Rats, has spent his early years between 1999-2007 and onward playing with A New Enemy, The Arsons, The Break, Joe Coffee, Let It Burn, Spanish Bombs, and To Each His Own. Frontman Ari Katz recently told New Noise Magazine: "dude, we all live in the same area. That's the biggest reason we are doing this; we all live 20 minutes away from each other," when the interviewer mentioned the abundantly used term, "Punk super-group." Katz says the earliest incarnation of Beach Rats dates back to a 2017 tribute show in memoriam of Vision frontman Dave Franklin, wherein he played alongside The Bouncing Souls' Pete Steinkopf & Bryan Kienlen, as well as local drummer, Daniel "Danny" Windas.
"I've been friends with the guys from The Bouncing Souls forever and we all live at the beach, so we just went for it," Ari Katz continued. New Noise notes that "from there, Kienlen raised the bar even more, when he told Katz that Brian Baker of Bad Religion, Minor Threat, and Dag Nasty-fame was living right down the street and looking to start another Hardcore band." It seems as though the neighbors and new-found bandmates simply started playing together with "no expectations" and as Ari Katz says, made sure "it was all about fun and friends and playing music together." Last Friday, Beach Rats unleashed their debut EP, Wasted Time, on Boston-based Hardcore/Punk label, Bridge Nine Records. It's a blisteringly fast, yet melodic 5-track EP reminiscent of Beach Rats' five members' past works, which clocks in at less than 7 frantic minutes, with the "longest" track lasting a mere 01:58. Beach Rats' Wasted Time EP is currently available from Bridge Nine in a number of multi-media formats, including limited edition 7-inch, digital album, 12x18" posters, and "Limited Authentic NJ Beach Badge." Wasted Time's first edition of 300 Red Marble and 700 Brown Marble-tinted 7-inches quickly SOLD OUT; although, a second pressing of 500 Blue Marble and 500 Standard Black Wasted Time 7-inch EP's are currently available for pre-order from Bridge 9's online store and are expected to ship before the end of August.
