Offbeats (band)

The band started as a collaboration in 2001 between Bryan Foster and Eric Romasanta who were finishing high school in San Antonio. 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. 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. Songwriter Bryan Foster improved during these years, according to critic Jeremy Martin. He wrote: ==Personnel problems==

After releasing The Standards, the group suffered a major personnel problem when their drummer, Mike Griffin, departed without warning. Singer Bryan Foster said "our first instinct was to regroup." They decided not to replace Griffin with another drummer but instead slimmed to only four members, and the musicians switched instruments (see table.) The changes were described as "drastic" by critic Enrique Lopetegui. In 2009, during this transition, there were some dubious performances when the group did not have its act together. 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. ==Renewal==

By 2011, the Offbeats recorded Lights Out In The City. Their songs described fictional but plausible "blackout stories" with thought-provoking lyrics, according to music critic Jim Beal Jr. Music critic Jim Beal Jr. wrote that the album was "smart, clever and catchy." and has four musicians, including three brothers: Bryan, Colin and Sean Foster, along with guitarist Eric Romasanta. ==References==