Casket Rats Photo credit: Hillarie Jason
A wise man once said that it’s ill-advised to start a street fight with a handshake. And so when Casket Rats want to throw down, they do it with cranked amplifiers.
The Boston hard rock dynamo unleashes an official Justin Maloney-directed music video for new single “Whiskey Queen,” on Tuesday, July 22, but not before it gets the exclusive premiere treatment today on The Big Takeover.
The new visual kicks off a fury of activity that leads to some exciting announcements in the fall, but in the meantime, “Whiskey Queen,” the Allston foursome’s first new music since its 2022 self-titled debut EP, sets a relentless tone through a sweaty blitz of hard riffs, thunder bass, punching drums, and gritty, weathered vocals. It’s loud, aggressive, and quite simply, necessary as fuck.
“It’s a punch in the face,” says bassist and vocalist Keith Bennett, a Boston hardcore veteran who is, in fact, the wise man referenced up top. “It’s a greasy, sleazy rocker from a greasy, sleazy rock and roll band. We’re letting the world know we exist, and it’s no time for polite introductions.”
Bennett and the band, rounded out by Brendan O’Hare on vocals and guitar; Goose on guitar and vocals; and Phil Slopak on drums, have been creating a noisy racket around the Boston neighborhood of Allston since their inception a few short years ago. And shortly after the video drop, they crank up the volume in their own backyard for a free, outdoor gig at Courthouse Park in Brighton on Sunday, July 27.
How stoked are they to release this visual? “I think the phrase ‘rabid dogs’ would be very appropriate,” Bennett says with a chuckle.
What’s also appropriate is the black-and-white, foot-on-the-pedal, all-gas-no-sass music video Maloney created, capturing Casket Rats in their natural habitat – throwing down a live performance clip at their Foster House practice space. Sometimes it’s best to just keep it simple and let the music do the barking.
“I don’t think Bergman or Fellini are too worried about us stealing their thunder, we just wanted to present an authentic version of who we are and what we do,” adds Bennett, known for his work in the Boston music scene that spans decades, from the legendary Wrecking Crew to more recent bands like PanzerBastard and Death Ray Vision. “That’s our dirty, sweaty little practice space and those are our dirty, sweaty little carcasses playing a dirty, sweaty little banger.”
And that banger goes hard, 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” O’Hare 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.”
If there was a mantra for Casket Rats and their brazen approach to creating a modern feel for a throwback sound, when the Lemmys and Thin Lizzys ruled the days, it would be that. The boys know they’re just playing rock and roll, but sometimes, that’s all we need to get by – in life, and in a street fight.
“We wanted Casket Rats to be the band we’ve all collectively dreamed about being in,” Bennett concludes. “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.”
Just don’t dare approach ‘em with a handshake.
New music on the way? Pitch Big Takeover Exclusives.
