Sandoval has spent 20 years crafting a particular sound that her acolytes happily wear on their sleeves. She may never stray from it again, and those expecting something as poppy as her major hit “Fade Into You” will be disappointed, but this EP is another notch on a brilliant legacy.

Big Heet retains parts of the post-hardcore approach that informed Ex-Breathers without merely retreading the same ground. One listen to “Flint,” the lead single from the band’s debut album On A Wire, shows a band going even further back into hardcore’s past.

Lindsey Jordan has a way of remaining mellow through the entire album of ups and downs, steady through her self-reflections. Her dreamy voice lingering through each line, the over-arcing feel of the record is best described as sleepy and yearning, her voice delicately crushing your heart at every corner.

Human Giving is a paranoid, tense, and at times breathtakingly lush record that feels like the culmination of an evolution that started with the band’s beginnings in 2012. Their latest is more careful and deliberate, setting focus on the journey and filling its landscapes with warm tones over a more calculated build.

While Yanked may tap out around the 20-minute mark, the six songs offer no shortage of sonic variety. One of Yankee Bluff’s preeminent strengths is the contrast between Helmis and Dionne’s songwriting styles. Where Helmis leans toward sunny, anthemic arrangements of distorted open chords, Dionne doubles down on melancholic, off-kilter picking riffs 

The quintet, led by the songwriting duo of Taylor Batton and Jack Stansbury (ex-Princess Reason), create warm Americana and "slacker" pop with an effortless feel. Everything is natural. Everything is easy-going. Their songs feel like lost memories, experiences you've lived over and over, and yet, it all seems new. 

Fans of Elf Power are going to find plenty to enjoy as a band should sound fairly confident in themselves after releasing twelve records previously. For a band whose sound was never defined by the Elephant 6’s unabashed love of all things ‘60s, they sound here like they’ve never aged, frozen in time but not defined by it. 

"Ozone" is part of the album's centerpiece, a tension filled song led by Anthony Focareto's soaring vocal croon, lilting through layers of cosmic guitars and a tight rhythmic groove. 

Over the past four years, thanks to a sparkling debut EP and subsequent full-length, the duo has become a genuine cult sensation entirely without the help of a record label; only recently, with the release of new single “Talk a Lot,” did Morgan and Shih add a publicist to their minimal, close-knit team, which otherwise only includes a booking agent and a publisher. 

Throughout Stone Fish you see and experience a whole other world that was always there, but was buried under the constraints of certain labels and genres, a tradition that isn’t easy to let go of. But in the meantime, we can just keep calling Big French a kaleidoscope.

Philadelphia's Cherry hit the sweet spot where power-pop and slacker fuzz-punk meet, blending together enormous guitar tones with even bigger melodies. Similar to the hometown DIY bands before them, the quintet create weary pop tunes with layers of hazy guitars, fuzzed out solos, and inescapable hooks of pure gold.

With their split coming out on September 29th via Invertebrate Music, the pair got together to ask each other some questions, so we can all get to know them as they get to know each other. It's learning at it's finest.

All Aboard is the follow up to the stunning Here Comes Washer and truly a journey in itself. It begins with “Forget Everything,” which has a dreamy opening but then soon becomes distinctively Washer as Quigley’s vocals kick in, feel effortless, and seems to fit perfectly with the actual message or mood of each song.

As the years wore on, it became evident that QOTSA's particular brand of swagger had legs, as Like Clockwork's position in their canon began to feel increasingly validated. Which all makes Villains an even more challenging record to follow up with, in scope of the band’s ongoing narrative. 

What started as the solo project of Kara Stafford aka KC has evolved into a dynamic quartet, pushing ground between fragile bedroom pop bliss and explosive tangled post-hardcore. The band's "official" debut EP, Bees Are Thieves Too, (out 10/20 via Community Records) is down right stunning.

"Respectably, Desperately," the album's second single and the grandest of gestures, opens with a gorgeous horn section, a twinkling piano, and a delicately brushed rhythm that's almost too good to be true. Prepare to swoon.

Soft Fangs’ new album, Fractures, brings a feeling of spatial closeness. John Lutkevich plays every instrument on this record, but there is something about Lutkevich’s voice that feels like he’s singing directly to you in a small room. 

There's a sense of panic and quirkiness to Full Body, but the band's acrobatic instrumentals will forever steal the show. Set to release What's Good?, their full-length debut, on September 22nd via Sad Cactus Records, the band sounds alive; unpredictable but exceedingly approachable.

Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, where we recap the past week in music. We're sharing our favorite releases of the week in the form of albums, singles, and music videos along with the "further listening" section of new and notable releases from around the web.

In his new bandmates, Matt Dowling (ex-Deleted Scenes) and David Rich (ex-Buildings), Devin Ocampo (Faraquet, Medications) has found what he says is his most functional unit yet. The struggle with his and Molter’s former power trios was always been finding that ideal third cog.

The sentiments and stories within Thx suggest a person confident in their boundaries- what they’re able to supply for others and what they’re certain they need to keep to themselves. Somebody who has reflected and learned and evolved. 

Justin Moyer is no stranger to a solid groove. If you’re a fan of any of the bands he’s been a part of (Edie Sedgwick, Antelope, Puff Pieces) then you’ll find a lot to love in his latest group Light Beams.

Despite the fact that Pardoner is the first band in which Max Freeland and Trey Flanigan have ever played guitar, their cohesive understanding of part writing and performance is indispensable to Uncontrollable Salvation.

Chicago’s power duo Tinkerbelles unveil Confetti at the Bottom a sludgy, heavy, 12-track LP emulating a psych tinge that is both enthralling and perplexing, relying on ominous main riffs and cloudy distortions.

Relying on sonic diversity throughout the EP, the band take four divergent paths, each as intriguing as the last. In that regard, "Barf Haus" is sort of the "welcome home" moment, a reintroduction to the Sleepies we know and love.

When your sound is so distinct and well-defined, the possibilities may not seem so endless, but the power, energy and drive the Toadies bring to the table here are found in spades.

"Crystal Listerine" feels as funky as it is deranged. The song stabs and convulses, toppling over itself with grace like a somersault over a bed of nails. Ivry-Block croaks out the song's oddly anthemic vocals at her harshest, howling in time with the colossal bouncing rhythmic groove.

"Theme From Beverly Blender" is a glorious introduction, a track that bleeds together the band's noise pop, art-rock, and twee senses into an unpredictable swirl, Molly Hastings (guitar/vocals) ruminating aloud, "you gotta wonder what it's like to be chill."

Nothing Yet injects the generic garage rock energy of its predecessors with lush production and melancholic reflections on chronic time mismanagement and the inability to break free from the temptations of indolence.

The group’s new self-titled seven-inch leaves little room for wallflowers with singer Luke Reddick’s verbal gyrations. Pleasant as it is to get all dark and downcast, Bless really treats the listener to an energy and movement seldom found nowadays in one all-too-serious post-punk rehash after another.