Tim Armstrong (Operation Ivy, Rancid, Transplants), Jesse Michaels (Operation Ivy), Joey Castillo (Circle Jerks, The Bronx) and bassist Spencer Pollard (Trash Talk) have a new project together and it’s called Bad Optix DOOM REGULATOR! The band released their debut single “Raid” today via Hellcat Records which you can listen to below. The song is pretty cool, and has that vintage rocksteady/dirty reggae sound going for it. Looking forward to hearing more.

The new track kicks off the Hellcat Singles Club: a collection of new releases by a variety of bands curated by Tim Armstrong and the Hellcat team.

Jesse commented about the single “Raid:”

“Raid is about every person’s spiritual autonomy from the powers that be, regardless of who they are or what their particular struggle is.”

“Like many of the tracks we have worked on, I heard the music and wrote the lyrics very quickly, almost on the spot. This was only the second song we did but it felt hot immediately and just flowed so we thought it would be a good way to introduce the new band to the world.”

Officially forming in March of 2021, the ska-punk pioneers have over 35 years of history together. Even with the gap between Op Ivy to now, Michaels says, “our creative connection seems to be stronger than ever and all the music we loved back then, we still love.” The idea to form a band came organically one day when Jesse and Tim met up purely with the intent to reconnect. Of course the topic of music came up and when Armstrong started to play some of his new tracks, Michaels was immediately inspired and sparking ideas for vocals. He explains, “As soon as we started writing together, we found that we had the same collaborative energy that we had in the past, so it was natural and fun just to keep going.” Tim also adds, “It came back, just like that. Like when we were kids. There is a special chemistry between us and I don’t take it for granted.”