by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)

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 list is in alphabetical order and we sincerely recommend checking out all the music we've 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 top-notch quality too.

BAKED | "II" EP

Brooklyn's Baked scaled down from a quintet to it's core quartet on II, a record that in just 19 minutes of run-time explores a cavalcade of the band's influences from classic rock and shoegaze to post-punk and mellowed fuzz pop. With five songs and three different vocalists, the band comes together to embrace each other's unique flourishes on songwriting, working together to bring disparate ideas into a sound that remains signature Baked. Aside from the colossal singles "A Hartlett Anthem" and "Hope You're Happy," the record blisters with twangy post-punk swagger of "Thus Far Been," the jagged and abrasive "Good For You," and bassist Jeremy Aquilino's lead vocal debut "Coma," the album's swooning fuzz pop centerpiece.

BORZOI "Big Pink"

"Big Pink," the record's first single and its video are the perfect introduction to Borzoi for anyone unfamiliar, a dark and delightfully tormented bit of confused brilliance. In an era where music videos are often crapped out without second thought, this one is exceedingly well-done, directed by the band's own Taylor Browne. Shot in black and white, the clip plays out something like a game show conceived by David Lynch might, with sinister fun and questionable intentions lurking at every turn. "Big Pink" itself is cold and creeping, the low end dirge pulsating just enough to create that pit of tension. The slurred vocal howls eventually make their presence felt, with short detached yelps. Like a drunk shouting the grandest of ideas from the bottom of a bar stool, the vocals are captivating in all their garbled glory. The band's tightly wound slither bursts open with multiple tangents, the tornado of blistering guitars breaking into a heightened groove and furious stomp.

DAUGHTERS | "The Reason They Hate Me"

Back in July, we praised the return of Providence noise-rock luminaries Daughters as they released a new single with promise of a long awaited follow up to their phenomenal self-titled album. That record, You Won't Get What You Want has since been announced and will be released in late October via Ipecac Records. The second single, "The Reason They Hate Me," is a bit closer to the sound Daughters damn near perfected all those years ago, a visceral outpouring of exuberant noise rock that's as big on groove and wigged out skronks as it is violent sarcasm and howled menace. It's thick and blistering, pounding and aggressive, and full of the depraved creativity that separates the band from their noise rock peers.

DRAHLA | "Twelve Divisions of the Day"

Back in May, Captured Tracks released A Compact Cassette, a collection of Drahla's previously released EPs and singles, an introduction to a wider audience for the Leeds based post-punk trio's wiry sound. Even as a completion, it's a great record, from a young band that push contorted structures with motorik rhythms and guitars that stab and dart in every direction. Since then the band have released "Twelve Divisions of the Day," a stand-alone single that has since gotten a brand new video. Opening with delightfully raw circular bass riff, the guitars come tearing their way in, knotting themselves around the rhythm in direct opposition. Luciel Brown's hypnotic vocals are delivered with a casual speaking tone but laced with melodic presence, a graceful element to their entangled dizziness.

GATWOOD | "Gatworld Vol. 1" EP

To anyone that's ever thought "oh great, another drummer made a solo album," you just may be floored by Gatwood's debut, Gatworld Vol. 1. With each and every instrument played by Matt Gatwood (Two Inch Astronaut), it's an astounding exploration of post-hardcore dexterity from an extremely talented musician, spreading his wings from beyond the kit. While Two Inch has gone on an unfortunate hiatus as of this summer, Gatwood is certainly doing his part to ease that loss, creating a batch of winding songs that pack enormous melodies into churning moments of disorienting post-hardcore and shimmering pop harmonies. Experimenting with unique production, radiant hooks, discordant guitars, and of course brilliant polyrhythmic drumming, Gatwood is a record of sheer beauty. Appearing like crop circles in the night, you may not know how or when it happened, but hot damn, it is undeniably incredible.

OH SEES | "Smote Reverser" LP

Another year, another incredible chapter of Oh Sees history has been written. Picking up where last year's Orc left off, Smote Reverser takes the quartet's growing prog rock tendencies and lets them run wild. Their unique brand of melted prog blends in everything (thee) Oh Sees have built their impenetrable catalog upon... garage, punk, krautrock, freak folk, and spaced out psych, so when they take some time to "jam out" with a visionary freedom, they're able to retain purpose. John Dwyer and company are still rattling in reverb, but the songs throughout are jittery and full of shifting time signatures, orchestrated movements, and sprawling passages into realms of distorted organs and pitch shifting synth exploration. It's a beast of explosive double-drumming and guitars that glitch and explode down a number of rabbit holes, chasing an eternal locked in groove, determined to disrupt and expand beyond any preconceived confines.

PILE | "Cup"

You may or may not know this about me, but Pile's Big Web 7" is one of my favorite recordings ever. The three songs that make it up (Big Web, Afraid of Home, Scissors) are perfection as far as I'm concerned, each holding their own nuanced ground in harmony with the release as a whole. They weren't necessarily intended as a singular vision (they are essentially b-sides from Magic Isn't Real) and that's part of the beauty. Those three songs are now remastered as part of Odds And Ends, a collection of Pile's out-of-print singles, hard to find compilation offerings, and "Cup," a never before released song that has been kicking around since the earliest days of the band. The single, finally recorded during the A Hairshirt of Purpose sessions, is Pile at it's very best, a song that feels instantly classic and timeless, fitting itself well into any part of the band's catalog, but finding a special fit among Big Web in particular. Opening with a finger picked twang and an easy howling lead vocal, it's breezy intro moseys into unsettling territory before too long, capturing signature Pile weariness and pounding rhythms (Kris Kuss really does his thing on this one, and no one does it quite like Kuss). From lines like "your wife was born without lips" and the anthemic "I got dreams in my pockets" to the careening riffs that lead into the ragged hook, this one is quintessential Pile... could just be one of their best songs yet.

PUBLIC PRACTICE | "Fate/Glory"

Following the demise of Brooklyn's WALL, Sam York and Vince McCelland wasted no time in forming Public Practice together with members of Beverly, picking up somewhere near where they had left off, creating some of the post-punk revival's most and most captivating music. Set to release their heavily anticipated Distance Is A Mirror EP in October via Wharf Cat, the first single "Fate/Glory" is tight, hypnotic, and dance-floor ready. It's a smash hit in a perfect world. As the beat slinks along with a locked in groove, the guitars scrape and dash around with an early B-52's charm, York's vocals doing the rest of the work for the sticky melodies that show a wider range than the typical WALL song, emoting over the song's funky center, rather than maintaining a steely cold stare. This is a fun one.

THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE | "D.O.U.B.L.E.U.R.O.N.G."

The introduction to The Spirit of the Beehive's new single "D.O.U.B.L.E.U.R.O.N.G.," much like the title itself is long and a bit arduous, but the payoff is worth it. When the song's melancholy melody and crunching guitars trickle in, there's an instant spark, a doubled back syrupy feel that instantly makes an impression. With a vocal line that's somewhere between Guided By Voices, The Beatles, and Autolux, it bounces about freely over the lo-fi din of the band, warped and infectious, riding a slow-burning drift that buzzes and fades, with keys and bass getting their time to shine between the cracks. It's less fragmented than a lot of Spirit of the Beehive's recent output, and the singular focus goes a long way to prove why they've become one of the underground's favorites.

TROPICAL FUCK STORM | "The Happiest Guy Around"

Hand-picked by Liars for the latest addition of Famous Class' LAMC 7" Series, Tropical Fuck Storm continue the ragged noise punk balladry of their debut album on "The Happiest Guy Around." Another sordid tale with clever lyrics and frantic revelations, the quartet stumble their way through discordant brilliance, squawking sax, and burnt dry vocals into jazzier territories, garage melodies that veer on soulful, and just about everything else the carnival at the edge of society has to offer. It packs in all that's so interesting about the band - a cynical fury, swelling compositions, and the reluctantly complacent feeling that things just may never be the same again, but this is the world in which we live. Tropical Fuck Storm, a casual madness you can believe in.

ZULA | "New Years"

Brooklyn's Zula are back with New Years, their third full length via Inflated Records, and it could just be their best album yet. The experimental pop band have a new rhythm section, Alejandro Salazar Dyer and Jo-Anne Hyun, and the pair are more than capable of filling the big shoes left behind, showing an adept understanding of the many art-rock and tropicalia influenced psych tendencies, as seen on the title-track and first single. With the Terepka cousins pushing the boundaries once again, Zula dazzle in a real majestic bliss, swerving between shimmering synths and heavily affected guitars for something that sounds gorgeously futuristic and humbly retro. The songs shifts as though as the band are wandering through the thick of the rainforest, willingly unaware of what lies ahead and what came before. Safe to say that Zula are only getting better and better.

Further Listening:

August 13 - August 19:

August 20 - August 26th:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (August 13th - August 26th)