| Offbeats | |
| Origin: | San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Genre: | Garage rock |
| Years Active: | 2001 - present |
| Current Members: | Sean, Colin & Bryan Foster Eric Romasanta |
| Past Members: | Mike Griffin |
The Offbeats is an American musical band based in the Texas city of San Antonio with a garage rock sound. Their music has been compared to The Strokes and The Clash and the group has been getting positive critical attention by music critics writing in San Antonio media. Music critic Jeremy Martin described their overall sound as "early ’60s garage rock through a post-post-punk filter."[1] They recorded several albums, and their recent CD Lights Out in the City was notable for its musical quality as well as its newspaper-themed cover art.
The band started as a collaboration in 2001 between Bryan Foster and Eric Romasanta who were finishing high school in San Antonio. They played various clubs in San Antonio, with musicians entering and leaving during these early years, and finally settling on a five-piece band. From 2002 to 2008, they played regularly at local clubs and honed their music. They released several EPs but the recorded sessions felt short of the group's expectations, according to lead singer Bryan Foster, who said after making recordings that "it was never what we felt like it was when we had that live vibe."
In 2008, their full-length debut CD entitled Standards was released,[2] which reworked many of their previous tunes. It was described by music critic Jeremy Martin as "impressively professional and mature" despite being self-recorded and self-produced.[3] What helped, according to then-lead guitarist Eric Romasanta, was rehearsing in their own space, which gave the group an "unlimited amount of time to spend on the album" including scrapping and reworking arrangements as necessary.[3] He said:
The group improved technically.[3] They continued to play regularly at clubs, including doing benefit concerts with other bands.[4] Songwriter Bryan Foster improved during these years, according to critic Jeremy Martin.[3] He wrote:
| Band member | Instruments Before 2008 | Instruments After 2008 |
| Eric Romasanta | Guitar | Bass guitar |
| Bryan Foster | Vocals | Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass |
| Colin Foster | Bass guitar | Drums |
| Sean Foster | Guitar, keyboards, bass, drums | Guitar |
| Mike Griffin | drums | |
In 2009, during this transition, there were some dubious performances when the group did not have its act together.[1] Critic Jeremy Martin, hearing one of their performances live, gave them a mixed review, and described the somewhat middle-aged audience as nonplussed with the group's loudness, and criticized the band's sound mixing as well.[1]
By 2011, the Offbeats recorded Lights Out In The City.[5] Their songs described fictional but plausible "blackout stories" with thought-provoking lyrics, according to music critic Jim Beal Jr.[5] San Antonio Current music critic Enrique Lopetegui described Bryan Foster as being similar to Mick Jagger and Julian Casablancas. He described the Lights Out in the City album as "catchy" and wrote that it was "one of the best local albums of the year."[6] Music critic Jim Beal Jr. wrote that the album was "smart, clever and catchy."[5] Lopetegui agreed, and elaborated:
In 2011, the band plays venues around San Antonio,[7] and has four musicians, including three brothers: Bryan, Colin and Sean Foster, along with guitarist Eric Romasanta.