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.

BELK | “Umpire” EP

In the ever rich tradition that is the UK’s noise rock scene, BELK arrive in fine form with their second EP of this dumpster fire of a year. The destruction and sludge of the their sound on UMPIRE is well crafted with a relentless disgust and impenetrable density, especially for a duo. It’s utterly unhinged, spaciously heavy, and irresistibly ugly. It feels good to hear a band this abrasive and sludgy, especially considering there’s no bassist.

BLESSED | “Structure”

Vancouver’s Blessed have been one of our favorite bands since their inception and the quartet just keep pushing the envelop. Like any good experimental band, each effort of the band’s offers something new, without abandoning their framework. Blending art rock, post-punk, and hypnotic electronic touches, “Structure",” the first single from the upcoming III EP, works an incredible dynamic path between the serene and the challenging.

CHRONOPHAGE | “Any Junkyard Dreams”

Austin punk band Chronophage released their third album, th’pig’kiss’d, a tremendously knotty construction of post-punk and lo-fi jangle pop that would feel at home on K Records, SST, and Kill Rock Stars. It’s weird, noisy, and full of anxiety ridden reflections that jitter throughout. “Any Junkyard Dreams,” the single (and its great video) offer an excellent example of what makes this band so special, with near spoken word lyrics and tightly coiled tension that works hyper rhythms together with twangy harmonies.

GLORIOUS DEPRAVITY | “Ageless Violence” LP

Sometimes a band name is just a band name, other times it can represent the sound, a warning of what you might be getting into. For Glorious Depravity, this is definitely one of those “other times”. The death metal band, which features members of Pyrrhon and Mutilation Rites, among others, have just released their relentless debut album, Ageless Violence, recalling the early 90s death metal sound with morbid reverence (in a good way). It’s brutal, with a never ending landslide of corrosive riffs and bludgeoning rhythms.

LAUNDROMAT | “Green EP”

Following the exceptional Blue EP, London’s Laundromat return with the Green EP, the second in what seems like a collection that it leading to the band’s full length debut. Whether that is case of not, Tobias Hayes (Eugene Quell, Shoes and Socks Off) is doing something special with his latest project, bringing his rippling noise pop together with post-punk disco beats and twitchy experimental dream pop skronk. While we recently featured “Bureau de Fatigue,” the record’s second track, “Bug Eyed” is a fantastic reimagining of the Eugene Quell song “London Pollen,” given a different kind of mellow energy, with a retro-futuristic space-age vibe. That slinky production magic continues with the mesmerizing “Nein.”

MAMALARKY | “Drug Store Model”

Mamalarky’s self-titled debut is really something special. It’s pop-focus is dragged through enough prog, psych, and punk to make it spiral in every direction. The sun soaked songs love to get weird and the stranger things get, the better they sound, but they always built around big ol’ hooks. “Drug Store Model” is a great example, a song that feels bent and disorienting, like a long lost Nuggets track that’s been stretched like taffy and reshaped into something wondrously catchy and off kilter.

MCLUSKY | “Stop Feeding The Houseplants” (Demo)

There is a demo of a new Mclusky song. I repeat, a new Mclusky song (or maybe even a new Mclusky* song, but it doesn’t matter). That should be all you need to hit play and begin anxiously anticipating the first new album from the band in sixteen years. While Falco and Jack Egglestone have kept us engaged over the years with Future of the Left and Christian Fitness, we’re still eager to hear another one from Mclusky and the demo seems like we’re in for a real treat, as acerbic and volatile as ever, both lyrically and rhythmically.

OHMME | “We Human / Eagle Eye”

If there is a silver lining to be had on this year, its the fact that it feels like OHMME are constantly releasing music and it’s a gift to us all. Following their album-of-the-year contender Fantasize Your Ghost and their Sub Pop released Mine 7” (which only came out a month ago), the band are back with two more songs that near perfection, the punchy extraterrestrial art-pop rave up “We Human” and “Eagle Eye,” a song that leans closer to syrupy folk and cosmic pop. Both songs come from a split single with The Aubreys, the third essential OHMME release of the year.

SPEED STICK | “Knots”

Speed Stick is a new band formed by a duo of drummers - Laura King (Bat Fangs, Flesh Wounds) and Thomas Simpson (The Love Language), focused on pushing rhythmic structures to the front and then seeing what happens. They recorded the album with their drum parts as the only blueprint before sending to friends that include Ash Bowie (Polvo), Mac McCaughan (Superchunk), and Kelley Deal (The Breeders), among others. “Knots,” the first single (which features Deal and her R. Ring partner Mike Montgomery), is a welcome introduction, built on a dazzling rhythmic pulse and warped and skewed into something infectiously groove based.

Further Listening:

November 16 - November 22

November 23 - November 29

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (November 16th - November 29th)