The realest part of a blizzard isn’t those first few magical hours of delicate snowfall, where hot chocolate warms the soul and thoughts of snow days fill the air. It’s not the first coating of a backyard, or a puppy frolicking in gentle powder, or happy children building a snowman with dad’s old scarf at the friendly neighborhood park nearby. No, the realest shit is three days later, when slush turns to ice, smiles turn to frowns, and the aftermath looks like the Stay Puft Marshmallow man blew his frosty load all over your neighborhood. It’s cold, it’s fucked, and the once virgin white snow is now a mix of piss-stained yellow and black sludgy tar-slush not even the dank-ass 7-11 in the worst neighborhood ever would sell in the middle of summer.
That’s kinda the vibe we’re getting off the new Black Beach single, “Rats,” the lead track off last month’s blistering Play Loud, Die Vol. 1 EP. The sound is dirty, fuzzed-out and raw garage rock, its jangle just pissed off enough to slap the jingle out of your mouth.
The “Rats” video, shot and edited by Calzone Ciarcia, is culled from live footage from Black Beach’s record release show at the Middle East.
There’s a sweet pop core to the guitar-rocking “Rats,” but it’s coated in layers and layers of sludgy noise and reckless abandon, perfect for stomping around a city digging itself out from a shitshow of a snowstorm. Kinda like the Middleboro band’s moniker, what was once pretty is no longer.
Catch Black Beach playing the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge twice next month: February 6 with the Midriffs, Zip-Tie Handcuffs, and others; then on February 12 for Nice Guys record release party with The Monsieurs and others.
