It’s mid-September and the weather is beginning to shift — one day is balmy, the next crisp. The prolonged chill of fall is coming, but you can’t yet pin down the weather’s tempo. Bethlehem Steel. The Brooklyn-based foursome make the perfect accompaniment to these autumnal atmospheric happenings. Their brand of guitar rock is brooding, raw, and chock-full of time changes. And, like the weather forecast of late, essentially unpredictable
The Indie rock four-piece Bethlehem Steel shared another single from their upcoming self-titled record. This one is called “Govt. Cheese”, The band was originally a trio, comprised of vocalist and guitarist Rebecca Ryskalczyk, bassist Patrick Ronayne, and drummer Jon Gernhart. Longtime friends Jon and Rebecca met Patrick while working at a local venue, guitarist Christina Puerto was brought on last year and instantly clicked.
“It was an immediate yes,” Rebecca said of Christina’s audition. “Nobody else mattered. Even though we should probably hear the other people we told to come try out, we were like, ‘No, this is the one.’ And I was right.”
The addition of Christina cemented the group’s lineup and their sound.
The new album follows 2017’s Party Naked Forever, and is set to arrive September 13th via Exploding in Sound Records. We’ve already heard a couple tracks from the Brooklyn-based band’s latest LP — including “Bad Girl” and “Empty Room”. For more on the new record, Bethlehem Steel have broken it down Track by Track.
“Sponge”:
“Sponge” is basically about stretching yourself too thin, giving too much of yourself to other people. Trying to figure out how much of yourself you can give before you fully disappear. It started out as two separate songs but felt right to put them together as something that sonically provided darkness and light. — Becca Ryskalczyk
“Govt Cheese”:
When I wrote this I was looking back on a lot of toxic and abusive male relationships that I’ve had over my life. A lot of them made me smaller and were holding me back from becoming a stronger woman. Sometimes you can still feel like you’re emotionally held hostage by them. Trying to find a way to be there but at a distance in order to take better care of yourself. “Govt. Cheese” has a grungier build, with the dual guitars thrusting the track forward. The pre-chorus is instrumental, and one guitar has this fascinating send into a different octave in which it becomes cleaner. This structure allows for the vocals to blossom into a near Corin Tucker range of strain on the chorus, while also asserting the repetition of, “I must take care of myself.”
The video, directed by lead singer and guitarist Becca RyskalczykI, features the group’s members along with dancer Sam Gehrke jauntily grooving out to the song against a tinfoil-like backdrop. It eventually devolves into RyskalczykI and guitarist Christina Puerto doing workout routines in spandex one-pieces, and it’s hysterical, frankly. Of the choreography, RyskalczykI says,
“I really wanted to choreograph a dance for Christina and I so I did. I wanted to show how sometimes certain male relationships held me back. In letting some of that go I could grow as a person and find more strength in myself. The dual dancers shows the importance of healthy friendships and a solid support system if you’re lucky enough to find that.”
“Empty Room”:
I wrote “Empty Room” at a time when I was experiencing debilitating anxiety and depression and was so paralyzed/overwhelmed I was unable to even begin to look at what the root cause might have been. It’s basically asking for patience from those close to me — Christina Puerto
“Couches”:
This song is about processing being abandoned by someone very important to you. It’s difficult to perform and was difficult to record the vocals to because the emotions are still very raw. The most tears went into this one and this track is pretty important to me. I feel so grateful that my old bandmate Paul Swenson was able to play cello on the track which makes it feel even more personal and special to me. —Becca
“Not Lotions”:
Pat wrote the bones to “Not Lotion” then Christina and Jon fleshed it out. Becca wrote the lyrics. This is the first time we wrote a song this way so it feels pretty special. A lot of times I feel so much anxiety and sadness that I kind shut down or go numb. Writing this I was feeling that. Feeling judged by people because I’m 30 and still play in a band and am broke. But does anyone have their shit together? Doesn’t everyone go numb sometimes? I didn’t cry a lot as a kid. I was just very angry. I hold so much pain inside my body. I’ve been trying to learn to cry and let the anger out instead of it just have me. The end of this song is a release of that. Just letting it go. Letting myself feel something. — Patrick Ronayne, Becca and Christina
“Bad Girl”:
“Bad Girl” is about all the nights that my brain keeps me awake. Irrationally telling me I’m a terrible person. Going over and over and over all of the things I might have done to upset or inconvenience another human. This song was incredibly fun to flesh out with everyone as well as record. Christina pulled the end guitar riff out of her ass while recording so that was pretty great to experience. —Becca
“Read the Room”:
“Read the Room” is about a time when I left an unhealthy situation but didn’t explain to anyone the true reasons why. I was living with the regret of not sharing the truth with others for one because it wore down on me to hold it to myself and also because I worried (and still do) that someone else might have a similar experience. It’s one of the darker songs I’ve ever written and it felt really cathartic to lean into that. —Christina
“Four Aliens”:
Another song about giving too much of yourself to others. Maybe so much that you forget to take care of yourself. When you allow people to suck your life force out of you. Like they’re taking your soul. You feel selfish for trying to take personal space. People trying to decide what’s wrong with you instead of just being there. — Becca
“Sheryl”:
“Sheryl” was the first song I shared with Becca and the group, so it’s definitely special to me in that way. It’s about feeling deep empathy and sadness and anger for someone very close to me that has been wronged/abused, and while processing these feelings seeing occurrences of these same patterns in my own life and acknowledging them for what they are. — Christina
“New Dark”:
“New Dark” is a song for women who have spent a lot of their lives just going along with whatever men decide to do to them. Not realizing that it’s wrong, that it’s abuse and that it’s manipulation. The fault of society for normalizing such bullshit behaviors. When talking with other women it’s shocking how many of us have been betrayed by male friends. Who have been taken advantage of while we are vulnerable. It’s shocking the amount of us that would go along with it because we were taught to be nice. The line “I got out of a family that hates women” does not refer to my blood family. I’m talking about past manipulative relationships and people who have made me feel less than because I am not a man. — Becca
Rebecca Ryskalczyk – guitar & vocals
Christina Puerto – guitar & vocals
Patrick Ronayne – bass
Jonathan Gernhart – drums
Additional Instrumentation:
Paul Swenson – cello
Mike Gagliardi – sax
All songs written by Bethlehem Steel From their upcoming LP, “Bethlehem Steel” out September 13th on Exploding in Sound Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 