Catbite is an American

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

band formed in 2018. They are signed to Bad Time Records. The band has collaborated with other ska artists including Jer Hunter (JER, Skatune Network,

We Are The Union We Are the Union is an American ska punk band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, formed in 2005. The band is now based out of California. The band has had many lineup changes since its inception, with vocalist/guitarist Reade Wolcott and bassist Brandon ...

) and Esteban Flores (Matamoska),

Laura Jane Grace Laura Jane Grace (born Thomas James Gabel; November 8, 1980) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!. In addition to Against M ...

(

Against Me! Against Me! is an American punk rock band, formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...

), as well as

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...

singer

Patrick Stump Patrick Martin Stumph (born April 27, 1984), known professionally as Patrick Vaughn Stump, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Rock music, rock band Fall Out Boy ...

History

Prior to forming Catbite, Brittany Luna trained as a jazz singer but migrated to punk and ska. Tim Hildebrand worked for The Interrupters as a driver and performed non-show duties and was also part of The Snails. Britt and Tim formed Catbite, and recruited their friend Chris Pires to play drums. Ben Perry joined Catbite about a year after the band started. Ben was formerly with The Snails and was initially just subbing in for the original bass player who had left the band before he became a full band member. Catbite was formed prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Members said they "didn't think they would make it past those first three years." The first album, the self-titled ''Catbite'' cost around $400 to make over the course of four days. Interest in the band started to grow around 2018 with a resurgence in ska. The band started to achieve national presence due to promoters like Jeremy Hunter of Skatune Network and Mike Sosinski of Bad Time Records. Bad Time Records started specifically to promote ska artists. Catbite was one of the label's earliest signings and the first new release following represses of older Kill Lincoln and We Are The Union albums. The album ''Nice One'' took 4 months to write. Catbite performed selections from the album live in July 2021 at a WXPN Free At Noon concert. This performance was then picked up by NPR's World Cafe podcast for a mini-concert series. The band released a six song EP titled ''Doom Garden'' on May 9, 2025, which was produced by Sarah Tudzin and featured

and Sweet Pill.

Operation Ivy Covers

Catbite joined up with

at the 2024 Supernova Ska Festival to perform covers of

Operation Ivy Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests, coming after '' Tumbler-Snapper'' and before '' Upshot–Knothole''. The two explosions were staged in late 1952 at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Proving Ground in the Marshall I ...

. Catbite again performed with Grace at

Riot Fest Riot Fest is an annual three-day punk rock music festival held at Douglass Park in Chicago, Illinois. It is known for booking reunions, guest performances, and full album performances. Riot Fest is one of the largest independently-owned music fe ...

2024. While in Chicago the group performed a secret set at a Riot Fest Afterparty at

The Empty Bottle Empty Bottle is a bar and music venue located at 1035 N. Western Avenue (Chicago), Western Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Located on the west side of Chicago's Ukrainian Village, Chicago, Ukrainian Village neighborhood, the venue primarily hosts l ...

. The live recording of this performance was later posted to Bandcamp as a pay what you want fundraiser for the victims of the

2025 California Wildfires There are a series of wildfires burning throughout the state of California. As of June 9, 2025, a total of 2,353 fires have burned 76,292 acres (30,874 ha) across the state. Background The timing of "fire season" in California is variable, dep ...

Of the team up Grace stated "I hope it’s all leading towards Operation Ivy getting back together and playing"

Discography

* ''Catbite'' (2019) * ''Amphetamine Delight 7"'' (2019) * ''Catbite Live From an Empty War3house'' (2020) * ''Catfite: A HXC Version of Catbite S/T'' (2021) * ''Catlite: A Yee-Haw Version of Catbite S/t'' (2021) * ''Nice One'' (2021) * ''Wavebreaker #2'' (2022) (split EP with Mike Park) * ''Doom Garden'' (2025)

References

{{Authority control Third-wave ska groups American ska musical groups