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.

BAMBARA | “Serafina”

With Brooklyn post-punk trio Bambara’s last album, Shadow On Everything, still fresh on our minds, the band have announced their follow-up, Stray, with the record’s first single “Serafina. While we still have nearly four months before the release (due February 14th via Wharf Cat Records), the single shows the heavily toured band remain in fine form, cranking out the finest gothic-tinged story-telling this side of Nick Cave and Iceage with a caustic darkness. “Serafina” opens with serrating guitars and a quick tempo, the band’s ever pulsating rhythm section leading the way for the drifting storm clouds of noise that pepper in the atmosphere. Reid Bateh’s vocals paint tragic and ominous portraits of the characters on-hand, the type that feel destined to unseemly acquaintances and inevitable doom.

CURSE WORD | “Your Name” LP

Curse Word, a new band comprised of Matt Powell (Bulletin, Trespasser, a stint in Grass Is Green), Darl Ferm (Speedy Ortiz), and Jake Waldman, are a scrappy trio that have warped and bent the sound of bands like Polvo, Jawbox, and Faraquet (much like their peers in Two Inch Astronaut and Grass Is Green) adapting it into their own, opting for accessibility in the face of complex progressions and tangled rhythms. For every mangled and detached slide into math rock dexterity on their debut album, Your Name, they’ve matched it with Powell’s warm vocal melodies and a jittery brightness. The songs throughout are fully realized and impeccably composed, jarring one moment and swooning the next on songs like “Over You” and the propulsive dissonant charm of “Big Fingers.” The tightly wound rhythms are as muscular as they are skittish, recalling a primal approach to something brilliant, swerving from one moment to the next with a chaotic fluidity seen in “Customer Service” and the jagged stop/start bliss of “Stress Vomit.”

GORGEOUS | “Shed Boys”

The duo of Judd Anderman (drums) and Dana Lipperman (guitar/vocals), better known as Gorgeous, are getting ready to release their debut album Egg next month via the ever reliable Sad Cactus Records, one of our favorite DIY labels. It’s a perfect match as Gorgeous’ record is delightfully off-kilter and full of forward thinking and artistic indie rock that’s capable of more than a few dynamic surprises. The record’s first single “Shed Boys” is sort of like the musical equivalent of fun and it gets better with every repeat listen (and we keep listening). They instantly dig into a knotted groove, so tightly wound, there’s concern of vertigo, but Gorgeous have that *magic* duo chemistry, and they remain grounded even as the rhythms and riffs get delightfully wonky. Lipperman’s vocals hit with sharp and fractured melodies, bending together with the soaring guitar work… and that’s before the band dig into the wild polyrhythmic sludge of the crescendo.

TWEENS | “The Worst” (Audiotree Live)

In the world of indie rock bands, five years following a debut album feels like a lifetime, especially when that debut is as exceptional as Tweens self-titled album. The Cincinnati band’s “trash pop” sound, a mix of jangly garage punk and indie pop isn’t necessarily hard to come by, but few do it with the appeal of Tweens, whose debut still feels utterly vibrant all these years later. It seems as though new music is imminent with the release of Incomplete, a new two-song single on Get Better Records (that we somehow missed upon release at the tail end of August) and the band’s on-going tour with Sheer Mag. That tour brought the band by Audiotree for a quick session that featured four new songs that capture the same furious pop splendor as their debut, punk songs with enormous hooks that stick like glue in a way only Tweens can. “The Worst” (taken from their recent single) rings with an unnerving post-punk guitar line and harsh and pointed vocals that are instantly infectious.

WATER FROM YOUR EYES | ”Adeleine”

There are a lot of videos out there that are not necessary accompaniments to their songs, but Water From Your Eyes’ “Adeleine” video is essential. Directed by Abigail Austin (who also plays in the soon to sadly be on hiatus Human People), the video features puppet versions of WFYE’s Rachel Brown and Nate Amos, sunglasses and all, capturing their essence on a miniaturized scale as everything can feel small in a city as big as New York. The song is incredibly catchy as Amos’ lush synth framework and palm muted groove moves in tight formation with the hypnotic beat, offering an easy pop bliss for Brown’s dreamy vocals, spreading over the surfy electronic vibes. It’s a stark contrast from previous singles “Break” and “Bad In The Sun” and it’s one that offers the glue that holds together the masterpiece that is the band’s upcoming Somebody Else’s Song LP.

Further Listening:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (September 30th - October 6th)