by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_) and David Anthony (@DBAnthony)

Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, our weekly recap of this week's new 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. It's generally written in the early hours of the morning and semi-unedited... but full of love and heart. The number rankings are arbitrary and we sincerely recommend checking out all the music included. There's a lot of great new music being released. Support the bands you love. Spread the word and buy some new music.

*Disclaimer: We are making a conscious effort not to include any artist in our countdown on back-to-back weeks in order to diversify the feature, so be sure to check the "further listening" as well because it's often of "countdown" quality too.

SEPTEMBER 11TH TO SEPTEMBER 17TH

1. BETHLEHEM STEEL | "Alt Shells"

Bethlehem Steel's full-length debut, Party Naked Forever, is one of most confident records I've heard in recent memory. Becca Ryskalczyk's voice is commanding and gorgeous, tackling her struggles with force. Their music is vulnerable but unshaken, heavy but also aware of the shadows that sometimes feel impenetrable. Opening with Ryskalczyk's sparse and guitars, the band dive into crushing unison, lending a mathy bent to her stunning songwriting. - Dan Goldin

2. TREADLES | "Problem Dog"

Opening with KC's stunning harmonies and a lonely ringing guitar, the lyrics pull at your heart's strings, embracing the confusion that comes in the wake of demise. It's simple, quiet, and reflective... until it isn't. The gentle demeanor is destroyed with disjointed guitars and drums, blasting like fireworks let off in a narrow alley. The clamoring shift is aggressive in comparison, but the melody remains in tact, vibrant and complimentary to the expanding structure that rises and falls around it. Treadles are locked in at every turn. - DG

3. WASHER | "All Aboard" LP

I've said it over and over again... Washer's sophomore album All Aboard is 15 Smash Hits. Since their debut single came back in 2014, the duo have continuously proven they can right some of the world's best fuzz pop songs, using their raw structures to their advantage as Mike Quigley's incredible sense of melody twists songs from skeletal grunge into enormous hook after hook. Quigley's lyrics are the focus on All Aboard, a scathing (and overly harsh) look into the habits and convictions of oneself. It's a dynamic record that pushes their sound in new directions with staying true to their minimalist approach, packing in a never-ending onslaught of melody without the use of harmony. - DG

4. YAUTJA | "Dead Soil"

The almighty Yautja returns, and while it may not be entirely *new* music from the Nashville trio, it will be new to most. The first single from Dead Soil, a collection of out of print and unreleased material that has since been remixed, is the title track a brutal avalanche of sludge and hardcore that ends as abruptly as it begins. Blending together a stampede of shifting rhythms and earth shattering howls, the songs digs its teeth in quick, progressively slowing toward a depraved dirge that's over all too soon. - DG

5. THE PEACERS | "Jurgen's Layout"

It's hard to say if the black and white "Jurgen's Layout" video adds much to the song, but if nothing else, it's a reminder that The Peacers quietly released one of the best lo-fi records in recent memory. The project of Sic Alps' Mike Donovan has come into its own over the course of a brilliant album and "Jurgen's Layout" is an undeniable stand-out. The video captures shaky shots of empty bedrooms, skyscrapers (both on fire and not), underground tunnels, and mountains... and well, it's something nice to gaze while enjoying the songs cascading drums and stuttered groove. - DG

SEPTEMBER 18TH TO SEPTEMBER 24TH

1. BIG HEET | "Flint"

One listen to “Flint,” the lead single from Big Heet's debut album On A Wire, shows a band going even further back into hardcore’s past. While Devo is an obvious reference point for “Flint,” it’s easy to contextualize the band in the present moment, at once sounding like bands such as Coneheads, Liquids, Booji Boys, or even Ausmuteants. Guitars jitter nervously atop the song’s wiry frame, serving as a bracing burst of fury that recalls hardcore’s gestational age. Fittingly, the band draws influence from the modern political climate in th same way the best punk bands always have. - David Anthony

2. BLACKLISTERS | "Disco"

You've never heard Blacklisters quite like this. "Disco" is damn near dancy... maybe not to the extent of it's title, but the quick circular nature of the song's groove is about as close to dancefloor excess the Leeds based noise rock band has come. Despite the spritely rhythm, it's still as corrosive as anything we've come to expect from the quartet, billowing with the sinister howl's and slurred grumbles of Billy Mason-Wood and the manic stabs of guitars key to any Blacklisters experience. - DG

3. ANGEL OLSEN | "Special"

Angel Olsen is getting ready to release Phases, an album of B-sides, and "Special" proves that even her "scraps" so to be speak are better than most. The expansive single was cut from the MY WOMAN sessions for reasons we may never know. The song's slow desert melodies and ultra sweet harmonies find Olsen's voice front and center, leading down the dusty trail of dreamy folk and lo-fi bliss. - DG

4. ICE BALLOONS | "Pie Is Alive"

Ice Balloons, the experimental noise rock project of TV on The Radio's Kyp Malone released their freaked-out debut album Fiesta earlier this summer and now they have an appropriately freaked-out video for "Pie Is Alive" to match. A brilliant blast of scuzz and sonic depravity, the video features a dark underworld of bug people... fighting, hanging in sleazy clubs... doing what bug people do. - DG

5. ALL PIGS MUST DIE | "Blood Wet Teeth"

The swirl of intertwined rats that make up the cover of All Pigs Must Die's upcoming album, Hostage Animal, is fitting for the colossal filth the metalcore supergroup offers on "Blood Wet Teeth". Vicious and unrelenting, the band's collective abilities merge to create one of the heaviest songs we've heard in a long time. This is all fury, destruction, and catharsis. Go ahead and unwind for a moment. - DG

SEPTEMBER 25TH TO OCTOBER 1ST

1. BAD HISTORY MONTH | "The Nonexistent Distance"

One of my all time favorite songwriters, Bad History Month returns next month with his latest masterpiece, Dead And Loving It: An Introductory Exploration of Pessimysticim, and it's word "pessimysticism" that captures Sean Bean's music at its core. "The Nonexistent Distance," like the rest of the Bad/Fat History Month catalog is rooted in a certain pessimistic, but there's something down right magical to it. It's that knowing wink that keeps the ground from swallowing us whole. Sean's lyrics are at their finest here, a forlorn tale of meaningless and the banality of life. It's not exactly meant for happy times, and we're not living in them, so indulge. - DG

2. DAVID NANCE | "Amethyst (Fucked)"

Earlier this Summer, Omaha's David Nance released Negative Boogie, one of my favorite albums of the year. His mix of blown out lo-fi, country twang, and noise rock puts him in a very unique place somewhere between Jay Reatard, Merle Haggard, and David Yow, and that's a place we can all love. Following up his exceptional album with a new 7" single, "Amethyst (Fucked)" captures Nance in full guitar solo glory, ripping a slowly melting solo to shatter eardrums and all sensibility. - DG

3. VARIOUS ARTISTS | "EIS: Live At Shea Stadium" LP

When Shea Stadium shut it's doors back in the Spring of this year it came as a crushing blow to Brooklyn's DIY scene. With beloved venues like Death By Audio, Big Snow, and Palisades already gone, Shea Stadium remained a home for bands that needed a good show, a good place to play, and a good atmosphere to do it in. In efforts to help raise money in the quest for finding a new location, Shea teamed up with Exploding In Sound Records to release a benefit LP. It's a living document of the insurmountable support Shea has shown EIS, with nearly all the label's bands playing the venue at one time or another. The recordings come remixed and remastered straight from Shea's archives, and feature a snapshot back in time with bands like Flagland, Krill, Fat History Month, and more. - DG

4. NIGHT IDEA | "Gift Horse"

Let's set it straight. This song is unbelievable. Night Idea's second single "Gift Horse" from the Richmond band's upcoming Riverless LP, is prog rock perfection. The track evolves in the most natural of ways, dipping into expansive bliss with stuttering drums, sleek bass lines, and gorgeous harmonies that land like an outer-space croon. Then there's the guitars and their effect manipulated beauty, ringing out with a warbling intensity and hypnotic glow, creating it's own atmosphere that pulls equal parts from ELO and Steely Dan's free jazz odysseys as it does post-punk and indie pop. Smooth as eggs. - DG

5. SLEEPIES | "Melt To You" EP

Following the ragged sheen of "Barf Haus," Sleepies slink on into "Hive Shadow," a colder and more calculated approach to post-punk that takes on the dark-edge of the 80's with a rubbery bass line and sharp mechanical beat. "Detective Behavior" shifts toward a gloriously obnoxious sound, opting for a jangly rumble that would make The Fall proud. The knotted guitars scrape together, like gnashing teeth, eventually settling into the dust before rising back into their spaghetti Western sound. Melt To You closes with "I Wanna Holler," a cover of Gary U.S. Bonds' R&B song. Replacing the original's finger snaps with surfy guitars and a hypnotic rhythm, the track punches with gorgeous atmosphere, both disarming and undeniably catchy. - DG

Further Listening:

SEPTEMBER 11TH TO SEPTEMBER 17TH

SEPTEMBER 18TH TO SEPTEMBER 24TH

SEPTEMBER 25TH TO OCTOBER 1ST

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (September 11th - October 1st)

SEPTEMBER 11TH TO SEPTEMBER 17TH

1. BETHLEHEM STEEL | "Alt Shells"

2. TREADLES | "Problem Dog"

3. WASHER | "All Aboard" LP

4. YAUTJA | "Dead Soil"

5. THE PEACERS | "Jurgen's Layout"

SEPTEMBER 18TH TO SEPTEMBER 24TH

1. BIG HEET | "Flint"

2. BLACKLISTERS | "Disco"

3. ANGEL OLSEN | "Special"

4. ICE BALLOONS | "Pie Is Alive"

5. ALL PIGS MUST DIE | "Blood Wet Teeth"

SEPTEMBER 25TH TO OCTOBER 1ST

1. BAD HISTORY MONTH | "The Nonexistent Distance"

2. DAVID NANCE | "Amethyst (Fucked)"

3. VARIOUS ARTISTS | "EIS: Live At Shea Stadium" LP

4. NIGHT IDEA | "Gift Horse"

5. SLEEPIES | "Melt To You" EP

Further Listening:

SEPTEMBER 11TH TO SEPTEMBER 17TH

SEPTEMBER 18TH TO SEPTEMBER 24TH

SEPTEMBER 25TH TO OCTOBER 1ST

by: post-trash staff