Like a lot of people, undergrad was a formative time for my musical tastes. If I were to let you scroll the wheel of my iPod in the mid-aughts, chances are you’d find something that could qualify as “dance-punk.” I’m talking about groups like Bloc Party, Le Tigre, The Rapture, !!!, Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem. There’s a special place in my heart for bands that lean into grooves while still maintaining an edge.
I bring this up because Astro Brat, a barebones duo with a big sound out of Des Moines, proudly wears the sub-genre moniker front and center. Their Instagram bio simply states, “DANCE PUNK. SO DANCE, PUNK.” The group is made up of drummer and vocalist Ryan McGrew and bassist Ambrose Lupercal. The pair released their debut, self-titled EP last month. With its straightforward yet frenetic rhythms, earworm hooks and melodic sensibilities, Astro Brat would fit right into a shuffled playlist of those aforementioned acts.
The EP wastes no time getting into things with lead single “Pretend.” Lupercal sets the scene with an overdriven, fuzzy bass riff which McGrew backs with rhythms designed to get the crowd boppin’. The recently released music video for the track features McGrew and Lupercal performing in an arcade, camera shots alternating between close-ups of fuzzy pixels, incandescent pinball machines and the performers, followed via fisheye lens. It’s a visual aesthetic that hits the same nostalgic-but-new notes as the track.
The playing throughout the project is fast but tight, with the band never missing a step during the many moments of syncopated gear-shifting. Take “Pretend,” in which McGrew counts up to six in French before letting loose on the hi-hat while belting out, “Lost your head like Total Recall. Good enough for one-size-fits-all. You’re too short to take a ride, but if it’s close I’ll let it slide.”
“Cookie Cutter,” the second track on the project, complements the first, as if they were designed to be played back-to-back on a setlist for maximum effect—to get the bodies mashed together and pulsing on the dance floor.
A highlight comes at the tail end of “Bone Dry” the penultimate track on the project. The singing stops and the BPMs fly. McGrew and Lupercal lock in with a big, meaty riff that almost sounds like the famous riff from the original DOOM PC game. Only, Astro Brat’s version is much more likely to get your head nodding.
Those nods will continue into “White Lies,” a perfect denouement of the project. Though the straightforward nature of the tracks before it are appreciated, “White Lies” adds just enough sonic layers and musical motifs to hit that balance between a robust sound and a driven, high-octane pulse. Both the intro and outro of the song are of note, the former sounding like glam-rock firing shot and the latter crawling to a heavy, Sabbath-esque riff to cap off the project.
At four tracks, Astro Brat’s debut feels like an announcement that its members have already arrived on the scene, confident that the rest of us will catch up. They’ve already embraced the dance punk; now it’s up to us punks to dance in their wake.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s December 2025 issue.
