ALBUM REVIEW: Rat Beat – Beach Rats

For all the hardcore throwbacks we’ve had in recent years, there haven’t been many which have pushed all the way back to the genre’s 80s origins. Who better to rectify that than Asbury Park’s BEACH RATS? United, as their name suggests, by a love of the beach, if anything the five-piece are a little overqualified. Led by guitarist Brian Baker, whose CV alone boasts the almighty MINOR THREAT, DAG NASTY and of course, BAD RELIGION, and bolstered by a string of lifers from the likes of THE BOUNCING SOULS, LIFETIME and LET IT BURN, sometimes these things are just a done deal. Teaming sensibly with Epitaph Records, their debut album arrives this Friday in a blast of short, sharp and scuzzy glory.

With the band setting out to write like they did as teenagers, Rat Beat is predictably raw and unpolished. Railing through 12 songs in a tight 22 minutes, it captures the spirit of hardcore punk in its truest form. Obviously, that comes with a hefty disclaimer that you will have heard plenty like this before, but that really isn’t the point. These are songs to skate to, songs to mess around with your mates to, and maybe even songs that will inspire others to crank up their amps and give this whole punk rock thing a go of their own. That’s what this music has always been about, so it’s already mission accomplished in that regard at least.

Getting into the specifics, opener Bikes Out! fizzes immediately with an energy that reminds you that this stuff really is all about the live experience. Guitars and drums ring out, a quick four-count, and in we launch to the album’s first scuzzy rager. Waiting in the wings we have Dress For Sick Sesh, this one flitting back and forth between stompier and more full-throttle tempos before the more melodic and riff-driven Heavy Conversation arrives to provide an early highlight. It’s all very familiar – next track Rat Beat practically borrows its opening riff wholesale from MINOR THREAT’s Seeing Red, which we have a feeling they’ll be ok with – but then again that is what was promised.

It’s also not entirely one-note either. Fifth track Summer’s End riffs a little harder than most, while Clorox Boys – one of only two tracks which stretch past the all-but-forbidden two-minute mark – is definitely the moodiest and sparsest cut on here. It still rumbles along nicely enough, with vocalist Ari Katz repeating a simple slacker mantra of “I should’ve known better” over a steady rhythm section and some unhurried guitar leads. Elsewhere, Baker and co. drag their throwback a little further forward, with tracks like She Was A Goner and Beach Talk picking up on the more melodic hardcore sound for which he is rightly counted as a pioneer. As the record careens towards its end, perhaps a few tracks do start to blur a bit, but again, that isn’t really a problem given how quickly the band wrap this whole thing up.

Let’s be real here – what else would you expect from a band like this? Rat Beat may be relatively short on surprises, but it makes up for it by doing exactly what it sets out to. These musicians, especially Baker, have earned the right to do whatever they want at this point, so if that’s to kick back and reminisce on the music of their youth then we should just be grateful for a chance to come along for the ride.

Rating: 7/10

Rat Beat is set for release on July 29th via Epitaph Records.

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