Casket Rats deliver a sleazy rock and roll sermon with ‘Rat City Rockers’
Black thunder evangelists from Boston unleash a blitz of riffs, rebellion, and retribution on debut album out now via Tee Pee Records
Release party set for Saturday, November 8 at The Middle East in Cambridge: Tickets
Watch ‘Whiskey Queen’ x Listen to ‘Stealin’’ x Album pre-order
‘No gods, no masters, no kings – rock and roll will set us free’ – Casket Rats, 2025
New video for ‘Blood in the Water’ out now!
BOSTON, Mass. [November 8, 2025] – In a divine twist of fate, there is a Bible devotional set for reading on the same day Casket Rats unleash their debut album. The verse is pulled from Isaiah 49:16, and it declares: "Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” Scrawled further up past the wrist and unto the arms, the sleazy rock band delivers its own sermon of similarly unwavering devotion on a path to salvation: “If you still believe in rock and roll, we got you covered… the black thunder evangelists from Boston are here to save the day.”
That type of promise demands a proper soundtrack, and Casket Rats have opened the heavens to rain down a relentless blitz of riffs, rebellion, and retribution through Rat City Rockers. The sleazy rock and roll band’s debut album is set for release on classic black vinyl, compact disc, and digital on Friday, November 7 via Tee Pee Records.
Flowing through the cock-sure Rat City Rockers are themes of lust, love, freedom, rebellion, celebration, regret, self-loathing, egomania, shame, ritual, revenge, ecstasy, and all the other things that make for great, pure rock and roll. It’s a celebration of sonic excess, a primal fit of unfiltered raw power, and a call to arms for the denim and leather true believers.
“This has been a ticking time bomb waiting to blow since the day we finished tracking,” says bassist and vocalist Keith Bennett, a Boston hardcore veteran known for his work that spans decades, from the legendary Wrecking Crew to recent bands like PanzerBastard and Death Ray Vision. “It’s four Rats in a basement sweating, vibing, yelling, screaming and hitting things at a very high decibel level.”
After the initial dust settles, Casket Rats celebrate the album with the official release party on Saturday, November 8 at The Middle East in Cambridge, a gathering that doubles as a music video shoot for the band’s next visual, before invading the suburbs to record a livestream performance at The David Bieber Archives in Norwood on Saturday, November 29.
Rat City Rockers, its title inspired by the nickname of the band’s home base in the gritty Boston neighborhood of Allston, is a dangerous sonic assault of hard riffs, thunder bass, punching drums, and weathered, lived-through-it vocals. It’s a loud, chaotic, and quite simply, a necessary as fuck album of declaration from Bennett and his gang, rounded out by Brendan O'Hare (vocals and guitar), Goose (guitar and vocals,) and Phil “Fast Phil” Slopak (drums).
“Above all, Rat City Rockers is 100 percent REAL,” says Bennett. “It's our truth, conceived from an insatiable need to play rock and roll. Hopefully, there's some kindred souls out there who can relate. If it's just the primal connection to the riffs or they connect with what we're singing about, it doesn't really matter. What counts is that when you put the needle to the vinyl, we make you feel you're a part of something powerful, beautiful/ugly, dangerous and real.”
All hail. Casket Rats have been slinging dirty riffs and throwback rock and roll since its inception a few short years back, lining up at the altar a classic cocktail of rock and roll aggression and gluttony that doesn’t sound out of place in the dusty vinyl bins alongside the likes of Thin Lizzy and Motorhead.
“I like to think we wear our influences on our sleeve,” says Slopak. “We're not trying to reinvent the wheel here, we just happen to be drawn by all our favorite classic bands from the ‘70s and ‘80s. We just try to put our own spin on the approach and do our thing with that classic formula. Rock and roll – real rock and roll – always comes from the soul. It's music by outcasts for outcasts. It's not meant to be pretty, nor perfect. If you don't get it, then that's a ‘you’ problem.”
Over the summer the Rats unleashed the “Whiskey Queen” video, a black-and-white, foot-on-the-pedal, all-gas-no-sass visual that captured the foursome in their natural habitat, throwing down a live performance clip at their Foster House practice space in Brighton. And that banger is relentless, raising a glass to the women in their lives in the Boston rock, metal, and punk scenes that tend to go harder than the men do. O'Hare says “Whiskey Queen” isn’t about anyone in particular, per se; but also, it totally is. Because we all know how she rolls.
“It's more just about all the women in rock and roll who go harder than the guys,” he says. “Think Wendy O drinking you under the table. It's an attempt to capture and immortalize the spirit of that archetype that sadly crashes and burns out far too often. It also alludes to a tale of a chaotic romance, loss of control, and the lows that follow. Chaos, lust, and rock and roll.”
The word of album arrives with adrenalized new single “Stealin”, a fist-in-the-air rocker with black hair and a blacker heart that comes armed with perhaps the best lyrics to come out of Boston’s heavy music circuit in quite some time: “Here comes Jekyll & Hyde / That motherfucker who just won’t die / I got the devil inside / and it looks like heaven’s running out of time.”
Produced and mixed by Alex Garcia-Rivera and recorded at Mystic Valley Studios in Medford, Massachusetts, with mastering done by Howie Weinberg, artwork designed by Nick Mehos, and publicity photos by Hilarie Jason, Rat City Rockers is a bold statement of intent from a band hellbent on testifying to the powers of rock and roll.
“We wanted to be the band we've all collectively dreamed about being in,” Bennett adds. “We've all had varying degrees of satisfaction and success with previous bands but none of us had ever been in a 100 percent unrepentant, no frills RAWK band. And it's pretty damn effortless, there's a very pure intent to what we do.”
Across Rat City Rockers and its nine relentless racks, an all-killer-no-filler approach manifests itself in the loudest way possible. Cutthroat opener “Blood in the Water” acts as an invitation to Casket Rats’ chapel, the rippin’ “Au Revoir” hits cruising altitude with ease though crunchy riffs and an anthemic sing-along chorus, and the expansive “Watch It Burn” takes rock and roll ambition to the arena rafters as the band lays it all out bare on the record.
The boys know they're just playing rock and roll, but sometimes, that’s all we need to get by – in this life and whatever comes after it. Listeners are invited to worship at the same heavy altar that came before, all with a modern fury fueled by life in 2025. Rat City Rockers is an album of ambition, or drive, of focus. It’s the word of a higher calling.
“I hope listeners get the feeling that I get when I put on my favorite records,” Bennett concludes. “You slap on that vinyl, turn it up to 10, the song kicks in and all of a sudden the world seems VERY conquerable, no dream is too far fetched, you ARE the coolest motherfucker alive and no one and nothing will be able to stop you. That's the power and the glory of rock and roll, we're merely the evangelists.”
That’s a devotional for not just November 7, but every damn day we walk this Earth.
Casket Rats official bio:
100% pure rock n’ roll.
Casket Rats are:
Brendan O'Hare – Vocals and Guitar
Goose – Guitar and Vocals
Keith Bennett – Vocals and Bass
Phil Slopak – Drums
‘Rat City Rockers’ production credits:
Music and lyrics by Casket Rats
Produced by Alex Garcia-Rivera
Recorded at Mystic Valley Studios in Medford MA
Mixed by Alex Garcia-Rivera
Mastered by Howie Weinberg
Artwork design by Nick Mehos
Photo by Hilarie Jason
Tee Pee Records 2025
‘Rat City Rockers’ album artwork:
Media praise for Casket Rats:
“Raw Boston firepower.” _Groover City
“A sweaty blitz of hard riffs, thunder bass, punching drums, and gritty, weathered vocals. It’s loud, aggressive, and quite simply, necessary as fuck.” _The Big Takeover
“Casket Rats were my surprise of the day. You wanna go back in time to the Sunset Strip in the 80’s, some good ol’ sleazy rock and roll and good times to be had by all? Then go listen to Casket Rats. Keith Bennett of Death Ray Vision fame man’s the helm here which was an unexpected but welcome familiar face.” _Ghost Cult Magazine
“We may have our very own #DarkQueen but these greasy Boston sleazebags (or maybe that should by sleazy greaseballs – you decide ÜR mofos) are introducing us to their #WhiskeyQueen. …Well, polite introductions or not, we’re more than happy to make the acquaintance of these sewer-dwelling rock ‘n’ roll rodents.” _Uber Rock Kicks Ass
“Casket Rats took the stage as a four-piece. A punk/metal hybrid, with strong bluesy turns. The great thing about this particular hybrid is that it combines the rich timbre of metal guitar with the pith of punk and the soul of blues.” _Hump Day News
“Following their last EP, ‘Whiskey Queen’ is faster and more furiouser than anything on their last outing (And that’s saying something…) with a modern Cro-Mags meets The Blasters meets The Cramps amalgamation integrated into the controlled chaos…” _Rock And Roll Fables
“Think Guns N’ Roses on acid, Motörhead on speed. This riff-roasting rat race makes your head spin uncontrollably. Vicious guitars, a madman for a drummer, a manic bassist and a demonic vocalist. Sounds mental, right? Absolutely. No idea who the ‘Whiskey Queen’ is, but I’m pretty sure she lives in paradise city where the girls are pretty and ace of spades rules. For those about to rock, Casket Rats salute you from their batcave. Wake up, people, and rawk your ass off.” _Turn Up The Volume
“Sometimes you need some loud, no nonsense rock and roll. Boston’s Casket Rats provide that for you. Their latest single, ‘Whiskey Queen,’ sounds exactly what a song called ‘Whiskey Queen’ should sound like. It’s a little bit punk, a little bit metal, and all hard rock. It’s loud and driven guitar rock that seems to be living in a world that encompasses the best of 70's punk, 80's thrash, and 90's rock and roll bands like Supersuckers that no one quite knew what to do with. The guitars thrash like you demand that they do, and Brendan O’Hare seems to be channeling both Lemmy Kilmister and Joey Belladonna. ‘Whiskey Queen’ is a great song for those of us that love where punk and metal meet.” _If It’s Too Loud
“You don’t need a music degree or a vinyl altar to get Casket Rats. Just a pulse, some bad decisions, and decent speakers. You need ears that still ring from the last basement show, lungs that still remember Marlboro reds, and maybe a memory or two of a Whiskey Queen of your own.” _Groover City
“‘Whiskey Queen’ from Casket Rats is an absolutely brilliant example of what happens when high level musicians get together and create an instant rock and roll smash. The stunningly drop dead perfect video, directed by Justin Maloney only adds to the magnificent rock goodness of ‘Whiskey Queen’…” _The Whole Kameese
“The Black Thunder Evangelists have simple invitation for the city’s rock and roll brigade as they prep the party with Apollyon and Zero Survive: ‘For the Rockers, for the Bangers, for the Punks, for the Skins, for the Sinners, for the Slaves, for the Motherfuckers, for the Outlaws, for the Kids.’ That means you.” _Vanyaland
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