New Jersey Punk/Hardcore Super-group Beach Rats Return with New Single "Rat Beat" & Announce Debut Full-length Album (Epitaph Records)
Beach Rats were one of our favorite Punk/Hardcore super-groups to emerge in recent years and we've alays wondered if and when they would return with a proper full-length. It appears as though the New Jersey Punk/Hardcore Gods have heard and answered our prayers, as Beach Rats have announced their first proper full-length album, Rat Beat, dropping this July! Beach Rats consists of frontman Ari Katz (Lifetime, Ex-Ressurection,) guitarists Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Dag Nasty) & Pete Steinkopf (The Bouncing Souls,) bassist Bryan Keinlen (The Bouncing Souls,) and drummer Daniel/Danny "Dubs" Windas (A New Enemy, The Arsons, Let It Burn.) Beach Rats' 2018 EP, Wasted Time, was released on Bridge Nine Records and featured the same line-up—just with Daniel "Dubs" Windas appearing in a somewhat less official capacity. Beach Rats have now signed with Epitaph Records, an imprint owned, operated, and founded by Baker's long-time Bad Religion bandmate Brett Gurewitz.
It doesn't specify exactly when, but a press release explains Beach Rats recorded Rat Beat sometime during The Pandemic with Punk/Hardcore lifer Brian Baker adding, "we'd go down in the basement, put on masks, open the windows, and we could play—within C.D.C. guidelines! We couldn't go to dinner at each other's houses, but we could practice." Alongside announcing the new album and their signing with Epitaph, Beach Rats have unveiled the first single for title track "Rat Beat." It's accompanied by a music video filmed by Beach Rats and edited by Eric Richter. Throughout the course of the less than two-minute track, we hear sonic allusions to both Minor Threat & Lifetime, as well as The Bouncing Souls & Bad Religion, complete with on-screen lyrics and a human-sized "beach" rat. Beach Rats' "Rat Beat" is now available on streaming services and Rat Beat is currently available for pre-order in multiple formats. Beach Rats' Rat Beat is out 7/29 on Epitaph.
