Bethlehem Steel – “87s”
Bethlehem Steel come across as unshakable on “87s,” the first track off their new EP, Docking. The Buffalo-to-Brooklyn band is led by Becca Ryskalczyk, who has a tendency to shout through the words when she performs live but hangs back on their upcoming release, letting herself feel like sweet relief next to the corrugated, spiky edges of the rest of the band. As the track clangs about, Ryskalczyk’s towering voice comes through: “I wanna carve your name into everybody’s heads when I’m brooding/ And not afraid to use my hands.” That threat of physicality and willingness to act carries over to the instrumentation, which is dark and industrial, sounding like an extension of the band name itself. “87s” is performative, callously vulnerable, and leaves an impression: “Don’t surrender your own rights to burn.” Listen below.
Docking is out 11/6 via Miscreant Records.