Rob’s Album Of The Week: Black Beach’s Tapeworm

Boston’s Black Beach have a knack for bringing some serious noise. Their intense combination of garage rock and post-punk resonates an extraordinary sound. Once you dive into what they got, you’ll figure out why they’re considered one of the top local acts on their home city. Their second full-length, Tapeworm, that was self-released on October 11 takes things to a whole new level with unbridled amplification. The album shreds from the first song to the last and it’s bound to do some brain-melting.

Frontman Steven Instasi is a dynamo on guitar while conveying a screaming swagger on vocals. Ryan Nicholson is bombastic on drums, his skills are vital to the sonic force serving as the foundation for the trio’s music. Bassist Ben Semeta is the glue holding everything together with his deep bass lines adding to the emphasis. There’s a certain rawness to the record that gives off a substantial amount of authenticity. It also just sounds better with an approach that doesn’t need any fancy production techniques.

To detach from this for a bit, anyone else having a weird fall season? I feel a little more unwound these days than usual. Maybe it’s seasonal depression? Or perhaps on a personal level I’ve had such a crazy year, in a good way, that my subconscious is bummed that it’s about to end. It also could be the fact that it’s the end of the…