Bethlehem Steel

Led by vocalist and primary songwriter Rebecca Ryskalczyk, Bethlehem Steel surfaced from Brooklyn in 2013 with the fuzzy, hook-laden indie rock of their opening EP Grow Up. The group, which drew early notice for parallels to Waxahatchee and Courtney Barnett, delivered its first full-length statement on 2017’s Party Naked Forever.

The band itself had coalesced in Brooklyn the previous year, initially comprising Ryskalczyk on vocals and guitar, drummer Jon Gernhart, and bassist Zephyr Prusinski. Ryskalczyk and Gernhart had crossed paths as SUNY Fredonia students in separate ensembles before relocating to the borough and pooling their efforts; at that stage Ryskalczyk was immersed in Brooklyn’s D.I.Y. circuit while Gernhart earned his living as a sound engineer. Once they had assembled material, the three-piece issued Grow Up through Miscreant Records in 2013, then returned to the same imprint two years later with the follow-up EP Docking.

A short-lived bass stint by Peter Katz ended in 2016 when Patrick Ronayne joined the lineup. Their well-received set at that spring’s South by Southwest festival earned a nod on NPR’s All Songs Considered, after which the band aligned with Exploding in Sound to release Party Naked Forever. Shortly following the album’s arrival, guitarist and vocalist Christina Puerto joined, shifting the ensemble to a quartet.

Late 2018 brought a split EP alongside lo-fi punks Washer, and the following year Bethlehem Steel unveiled its sophomore long-player, simply titled Bethlehem Steel.