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.

CHERUBS | “Full Regalia”

We have heard Cherubs’ new album, Immaculada High, and it is everything we hoped for from one of noise rock’s most unique bands, nearly three decades running (minus a twenty year absence). When the band returned in 2016 with 2 Ynfynyty, it would have been understandable if they were a little rusty, but Austin trio’s come-back was one of the year’s best records, and a welcome return. Three years later, their latest record is another shinning example of their own warped noise rock and sludgy pop. The record’s third single “Full Regalia” is pummeling and abrasive, pounding out enormous waves of low-end and blanketing feedback, with the vocals howling in with an almost serrated psych rock croon, the juxtaposition that sets Cherubs in a league of their own.

CIVIC | “Selling, Sucking, Blackmail, Bribes”

Melbourne’s Civic continue to change up the formula from release to release, the consistency being that whether they’re making hardcore or power-pop, it’s all pretty damn good. Set to release a new 7” single next week, the record’s A-Side, “Selling, Sucking, Blackmail, Bribes” is a ragged punk song, low in fidelity and high in agitated energy. Amped up and ready to shred, the quintet open with a bleeding guitar line, attacking like a massive horn section as the lead shreds just beneath. There’s a sickened sense of disdain in the vocals, dismissing the corrupt and morally flexible with primal scorn and some seriously blown out guitar riffs. This one is a certified ripper and we could listen to it on repeat… though we’re eager to hear the B-Side as well.

FCKR JR | “The Pain and Sleep Department”

Chicago’s FCKR JR are most definitely thriving, just look at their band name. The quartet, led by Ben Grigg (Geronimo!, Whelpwisher), formed in the late months of 2017, having released their debut single, Fog b/w Nine Inch Cakes just as 2018 came to a close. Set to release their full length debut, I’m Sorry Mom and Dad, on August 2nd via Born Yesterday Records, it’s a perfectly fuzzy mix of slacker pop and big spacey melodies. Our first listen comes via lead single, “The Pain and Sleep Department,” an exceptional introduction to their locked-in and phased-out guitars and Grigg’s earworm melodies. It’s a laid back song that’s anything but catatonic, a well developed and nuanced layering of thick distortion and a steady burning rhythm from Emily Bean (bass) and Liz Bustamante (drums) keep it forever driving.

FERN MAYO | “Echo“

It’s been three years since Brooklyn’s Fern Mayo have released a new recording, but that wait is thankfully over with the release of “Echo,” the first single from an upcoming record. Recorded at Brooklyn’s Black Lodge Studio with Michael Thomas III (Grass Is Green, Ovlov, Maneka) handling both production and bass/drum duties, Katie Capri’s latest is as tangled and infectious as ever, as Capri’s unique vocals ring out, breaking under the emotional weight. The guitars are heavily layered, shredding into a dense wall of sound but given sonic clarity that makes it all easily digestible (a true specialty of Thomas’ production). Capri’s voice captures emotion with a fragile sensibility but a resounding strength even as she’s “grasping at nothing.” It’s a ripper and we can’t wait to hear more.

GONG GONG GONG | “Notes Underground 地下日記”“

Beijing’s Gong Gong Gong 工工工 have released a steady stream of singles these past few years on Wharf Cat Records but the time has come for their full length debut, Phantom Rhythm 幽靈節奏, due out in October. The duo of Joshua Frank (bass) and Tom Ng (guitar/vox) play without drums, creating their own unique delta blues and post-punk hybrid, a set of minimalist stompers reliant on rhythmic structures from the stomp of the guitar and bass, and the stark vocals, all of which are sung in Cantonese. The band hack at the blues with a punk mentality and a determined drive, and you can feel the energy pulsing through the gritty twang and repetitive guitar rhythms as they dig in and Ng’s circular vocals add the perfect accompaniment to their raw stomp.

KNIFE WIFE | “Reptile”

Washington, DC’s Knife Wife make music with minimalist structures and raw tonality, the kind that really speaks to all we hold dear at Post-Trash. It’s sour and desolate, and the songs are triumphantly detached and dampened. There’s plenty of gross imagery that stems from boredom and youthful anxiety, and it’s all delivered with bleak constructions, singular guitar lines, and those “slacker” melodies that led to instant obsession. Family Party, the band’s full length debut is out now on Sister Polygon, a record that reminds of early PJ Harvey, Cat Power, and maybe a touch of Scout Niblett, best exemplified on “Reptile,” a slow burner soaked in dirt and airy open spaces. It’s a true gem, one that finds the band crawling into desert grooves and a call and response hook that finds joy in dry skin and commercials for protein powder.

LRRR | “Whose News?” LP

Cut from a similar cloth as The Cradle, Lrrr (the solo project of Tundrastomper’s Skyler Lloyd) works experimental music into the dreamier folk realms, creating a record that is both mystifying and utterly gorgeous. Recorded in bedrooms in Hadley and Easthampton, Lloyd’s use of lo-fi textures actually work to bolster and unite the detached entries from his mind, providing cohesion to the lush acoustics and gentle vocals. From the disorienting psych pop beauty of “Not Even U” to the field recorded sound of “Lyme” ever song is painstaking beautiful, with classical finger picked guitars, delicate harmonies, and the occasional diversion of earworm nuance. It’s the cool breeze on a hot day and the warm blanket on a cold one. Sparse in instrumentation but never in execution (see the lush “Sumac”), Lloyd’s ability to make vocal and guitar pairings sound this radiant is impressive. Lrrr floats through eleven songs in a cloudy bliss, exploring themes oft-mundane with a brilliant resolve.

MAUNO | “Take Care”

Last month we wrote about Montreal experimental pop duo Mauno and the announcement of their third album, Really Well, due out early next month. That record’s third single “Take Care” is a fantastically deconstructed psych pop song, incorporating the wonkiest of structures, stopping and starting, weaving and stuttering, dragging and collapsing with the utmost beauty. It’s an unpredictable song that is the essence of Mauno at their most majestic. For every jarring and seemingly inaccessible shift, this one is big on otherworldly grooves and soulful nuances that transport the song’s complexities into something fluid and easy, a dreary state where nothing is quiet what it seems, but you’d never dare question it in the first place.

RUTH GARBUS | “Strash”

One of the shinning lights of the ever fertile Brattleboro “freak folk” scene, Ruth Garbus has been making thought provoking and intensely personal albums for over a decade, working with everyone from the good folks at Feeding Tube Records and OSR Tapes to projects with King Tuff’s Kyle Thomas (Happy Birthday). Set to release her new full length, Kleinmeister, via Orindal Records toward the end of Summer, the lead single “Strash” is a gorgeous introduction, a song both vibrantly off-kilter but stunning and serene. A flicker of her magnificent vocal melodies here, and wavering sustain there, Garbus sings about “sucking all the brains through a very, very long hose now” and it makes it sound like one of the prettiest things you’ve ever heard. We can’t wait to hear more.

SQUID | “The Cleaner”

Following the ever brilliant “Houseplants” single, a song that remains a personal favorite of the year so far, UK band Squid have announced a new EP, Town Centre, due out September via Speedy Wunderground. The record’s first single “The Cleaner” is sewn from the same post-punk magic as “Houseplants” and “The Dial,” stretching things out ever so slightly and leaning even heavier on the cowbell rhythms. While less unhinged than their previous single, “The Cleaner” still has frantically shouted verses over retro-futuristic grooves that part art punk, part noise pop. The vocals of the hook take a turn for melodic territory rarely heard in their recent output, an offset of the verses’ wiry yelps. Squid are certainly a special band and their new EP is sure to cement them as on the brightest up-and-coming buzz bands.

Further Listening:

July 08 - July 14:

JULY 15 - JULY 21:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (July 8th - July 21st)