Catbite release hardcore/punk version of s/t debut LP for Bandcamp's Juneteenth fundraiser

For the April Bandcamp Day, Philly ska/power pop band Catbite proved that they’re just as good at alt-country as they are at ska by releasing CATLITE, a “yee-haw version” of their 2019 self-titled debut. Now, for Bandcamp’s Juneteenth fundraiser, they’ve released CATFITE, a hardcore/punk version of the album. Some of it leans more on a melodic garage punk side, but much of it embraces the tough, pit-starting sounds of classic ’80s hardcore. It’s cool to hear yet another interpretation of this great batch of songs, and you can check it out for yourself by picking up the album at Catbite’s Bandcamp.

For today’s fundraiser, Bandcamp will donate all of their profits to the NAACP Legal Fund, and Catbite will be donating all of their profits to Hearts On A Wire, “a grassroots inside/outside prison advocacy organization working to address the needs of transgender people, mostly POC, in Pennsylvania’s prisons.” It’s a pay-what-you-want download, and as with CATLITE, anyone who purchases the album for more than $5 will be automatically entered to win one of two signed first pressings of Catbite’s debut album. These are the very last copies the band has.

Catbite also made a video for the hardcore version of “Midnight Eyes,” with help from Adam Davis of Link 80 and Omnigone, the latter of whom have a split with Catbite where they do a punk cover of “Scratch Me Up.”