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.

ANNA MCCLELLAN | “Raisin”

When we last wrote about Anna McClellan’s new album, we mentioned there was a new found looseness to the compositions and increased sense of spontaneity, which is abundantly clear on “Raisin,” the latest single from the upcoming I Saw First Light record. Built on an silky bass and organ lead, the instrumentation feels whimsical and carefree. The song is based around McClellan’s dream of just “letting go” and jumping off a mountain, the idea of finding total freedom in the process. That sense of ease is felt in the pulsing rhythmic structures and the honks of pinched organs that float and crackle with cheerily warped melodies.

DAVID NANCE | “My Love, The Dark and I”

There is an ever present rawness to David Nance’s new record, Staunch Honey, due out next month via Trouble In Mind (Lithics, Melenas, Naked Roommate). The album is stripped down compared to the last few Nance albums, drawing less upon the noise and fuzz, and more on blistering front-porch Americana. It’s still glistening with muscular guitars and vibrant twang, but that fried country charm that David Nance has always peppered into his songs shines through with a deeper glow. “My Love, The Dark and I,” takes this approach and gives it a hefty rock ‘n’ roll burn, like a drifter stumbling through the dusty West, his intentions shrouded in mystery.

GUSTAF | “Mine”

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Brooklyn’s Gustaf a hand full of times and it could be said that they are a hard act to take your eyes off. Lead by Lydia Gammill’s commanding stage presence, every saunter, contorted facial expression, and slink across the stage feels engrained in the band’s blend of krautrock repetition, post-punk grooves, and performative art rock. It always raised the question, will this translate to record, and the band’s debut single “Mine” and it’s accompanying video prove it does. Gammill’s personality is what makes Gustaf the captivating band they are, coming across in fine form through grunts, stutters, and plenty of sarcasm on the hyper mesmerizing new single, sounding something like Pylon with the mind of David Yow.

OHMME | “Mine” + “Miasma”

Chicago duo OHMME released Fantasize Your Ghost just four months ago, an album that remains one of the year’s best records, and they’re still at it. Their latest two song single “Mine” b/w “Miasma” is part of Sub Pop’s Singles Club (which has recently included Guerilla Toss, Uranium Club, and Terry), and the pair of tracks are a perfect example of what makes OHMME so compelling. The band’s take on art rock, post-punk, and noise-pop all swirls together with skeletal clarity but an underlying complexity. “Mine” is hypnotic, bouncing around with a heavy rhythm and an intoxicating sonic pulse. “Miasma” on the other hand finds the duo operating on a soulful boogie, snapped in place with sharpened harmonies and a psychedelic flair.

OPTIONS | “Warm”

The ever prolific musician and producer, is set to release his latest Options gem, Window’s Open, on October 23rd. It’s another brilliantly somber record that blends intricate songwriting with a lo-fi warble that washes over Engel’s technicality like a blanket of accessibility. “Warm” is the first single and album opener. It’s a fantastic first impression for the album and to the dynamics that make Options one of the Chicago underground’s best bands. Opening with a molasses tempo and a hazy melody that recalls the slow dripped beauty of Horse Jumper of Love, Engel swoons with a lulling performance, one that feels fragile, as though it could crumble without warning. As the track ebbs and flows amid layers of sustained drift, the song makes a break for it in the second half, toppling forward and back again with detached fills and a unique pacing that is cause for repeat listens.

SOFT BLUE SHIMMER | “Cherry-Cola Abyss”

Los Angeles trio Soft Blue Shimmer have announced their full length debut, Heaven Inches Away, will be released in November via Disposable America (Alexander, Beverly Tender, Lubec). Following last year’s Nothing Happens Here EP, the record’s first single is the immersive and sprawling “Cherry-Cola Abyss,” a stunning blend of lush shoegaze and dream-pop. The thick layers of guitars are balanced by gorgeous vocals, surging forward with the great hook, “delighted, broken, quiet, blissful / I feel it all, and all at once.” The distortion clears away a path for delicate harmonies and hard cracked drums, pounding away and giving shape to the structure. It’s all mixed perfectly together, like a blinding light that shines as a new day is beginning.

TRAAMS | “Intercontinental Radio Waves”

Back in August we saw UK trio TRAAMS come out of hibernation, returning with the massive new single “The Greyhound,” a song that was nearly 10 minutes of motorik bliss. Nearly two months later, they’re at it again with “Intercontinental Radio Waves,” another impossibly great song that leaves us anxious for them to announce a new record (though it seems it will just be three stand-alone singles). While their latest is far more compact and concise by comparison, it’s colossal bass groove is dense while the winds of catchy psych punk weave around in some of the punchiest melodic hooks in recent memory. The vocals glimmer with a circular pattern, one that feels immediately infectious and brilliant. The song’s progression veers into dangerous feedback as their closing thoughts repeat “so we burn it down, so we start again.”

VIAGRA BOYS | “Ain’t Nice”

Following a surprise released EP earlier this year that took the band in some different directions, Stockholm’s Viagra Boys have announced their second full length album, Welfare Jazz, due out the second week of January. If anyone was worried the band had “matured” beyond the sound of Street Worms, their new record’s lead single “Ain’t Nice” should put to rest any concerns. Viagra Boys’ sound remains brilliantly sleezy and tongue-in-cheek, built on raw attitude and a pointed sense of humor that stings with hilariously repulsive characteristics. The band take a sludgy and deranged approach to danceable post-punk, like a crusty Devo with skronky sax and a permanently sardonic tongue. The video for “Ain’t Nice” is genuinely amazing, scrolling across town as the band’s vocalist is a total dirtbag to everyone in sight. Eventually he ends up on fire and a kid who has had enough (after having his scooter stolen) decides to shoot him with a stun gun… and things get weird.

WREN KITZ | “Shrouds”

Vermont’s Wren Kitz is getting ready to release his latest album, Early Worm, this November via Sophomore Lounge (Frank & The Hurricanes, Huevos II, State Champion) and Feeding Tube Records (Big Blood, Banny Grove, Village of Spaces). Having released a collection of home recordings in 2018, the new record is the official follow up to 2017’s meditative Dancing On Soda Lake. "Lead single “Shrouds” seems to bridge the gap between the two, combining Kitz’s knack for contemplative folk with a tape hiss warble and fuzzy psych leaning noise that wouldn’t be out of place on a Helvetia record. With effected vocals, the track feels awash in a haze, the textures ever floating, collapsing and contorting with an Americana grace at its core.

ZOOMDWEEBY | “Money God”

Back in August, Steakhouse Records released the You’re Gonna Be Great compilation and from it’s 51 tracks, ZOOMDWEEBY’s “Beasts (demo)” really stood out to me. The solo project of Victor Artesona (who previously played drums in Pupppy) is set to release their debut EP, Traffic, on October 23rd. The record was features some familiar collaborators including Julian Fader (Ava Luna), Nick Llobet (Youbet), Lucie Murphy (Poise), and more, but it’s Artesona’s lo-fi bent-pop songs that bring it to life. The lead single, “Money God,” is bright and fuzzy, with a gentle sort of chaos that begins with a twangy charm and bursts to life with a reserved jangle and textures that pop in and out, reflecting the song’s lyrical sentiment of “going insane” that we can all relate to.

Further Listening:

October 05 - October 11:

October 12 - October 18:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (October 5th - October 18th)