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.

ASTUTE PALATE | “Astute Palate” LP

Leave it to one of the last releases of the year to shred harder than all that has come before it. Astute Palate is a “supergroup” without the glitz and the subsequent bullshit. The band, comprised of David Nance, Emily Robb (Lantern), Daniel Provenzano (Writhing Squares), and Richie Charles (Watery Love, Clockcleaner) came together one fateful weekend in Philadelphia to write and record their self-titled debut (and they played a show too). The result is one massively sprawling dose of endlessly ripping guitars, muscular blues, psych, and blown out punk. Everything is pushed to capacity, but it’s not just a free for all. The songs are there, well developed, and full of heft, with Nance and Robb trading off vocal duties throughout. An explosive record that pulls the best from everyone involved, we’d really love to see this live someday, though chances seem slim. At least we’ll forever have the record in which we can all collectively lose our minds to in a heap of barn burning enjoyment.

EDITRIX | “Chelsea”

You may recall that Post-Trash fell deeply in love with Editrix’s debut EP, Talk to Me, back in 2019, a refreshing ripper that introduced us to the band. Comprised of Wendy Eisenberg, Josh Daniel, and Steve Cameron, the trio will release their full length debut, Tell Me I’m Bad, in early February, a record that takes the promise of their EP and comes bursting through the walls, crumbling our expectations. Lead single “Chelsea” is a great starting point, built on an abrasive riff that scrapes against the backbone of the colossal rhythm, digging between sludge and piercing high end assault. Eisenberg’s vocal add a balance to the song’s pounding construction, giving it a sweetened touch, as they hammer away at political unrest among the non-committed.

EIEIEIO | “Gentle Spaniels” EP

For about six and a half minutes, Western MA trio EIEIEIO contort and convulse between “college rock” charm and a far more reckless brand of noise rock on the short and sweet Gentle Spaniels. The band is comprised of Max Goldstein (Maxshh, Tundrastomper), Sara Kochanski (Wishbone Zoë), and Sam Brivic (Crimson Blue, Tundrastomper), three friends who happen to be exceptional musicians. Earlier this year they released Comforters, a collection of covers, but Gentle Spaniels mark their first original songs and we can’t get enough. It’s wonderfully weird and built on clamoring structures that can (and often do) give way at any moments notice. Crank this up loud and let it rip, for about seven minutes of pure rattled bliss.

KAL MARKS | “Hertz (Home Version)”

Kal Marks’ music is dense, heavy, and full of loud caterwauling distortion. When you strip it all down to its barest demo form however, it’s Carl Shane making lo-fi recordings are just about the opposite of how they end up. Set to release Broken Songs, a collection of brand new demos, in mid-January, the band has shared a cover of The Sopranos theme song (that kinda sounds like an alternate world Nick Cave rendition) and now they’re sharing “Hertz (Home Version),” a song that definitely captures the raw intensity of what it will eventually become, but peeled way back to a skeletal sketch that radiates with the vocal melody as opposed to anything more sonically mangled.

KRILL | “Becky”

There are a lot of great charitable compilations on Bandcamp, Songs of Solidarity among them. The collection’s proceeds go toward Unite Here Local 26's emergency fund to aid Boston/Providence area food service and hospitality workers who are struggling due to COVID-19. With tracks from Nova One, Sad13, Downtown Boys, Anjimile, and more, we’re excited to hear “Becky,” a long lost Krill song never before released. It’s quintessential Krill, working a dissonant progression into something that feels welcoming and accessible, digging its way over discordant chords and an elastic rhythm that makes use of sharp twists and subtle stops.

MANEKA | “Santa Is A Neocon”

I’ll just come out and say it, I don’t really like Christmas songs (unless we’re talking Sammy Davis Jr’s “Sweet Gingerbread Man”). This year there seemed to more than usual, perhaps due to extra time of everyone’s hands. Father/Daughter Records and Wax Nine teamed up to release Simply Having A Wonderful Compilation, a collection of oddball Xmas songs and covers that included Melkbelly, Sad13, Pom Pom Squad, Illuminati Hotties, Ohmme, and many more great bands. The highlight for me however is Maneka’s “Santa Is A Neocon,” a song that deals with Christmas in a economical and sociopolitical way more than sippin’ the ol’ eggnog or anything along those lines. The track is built on a tidal wave of skittering guitars that ebb and flow in their approach as Maneka’s Devin McKnight sings about the financial burdens that holiday consumerism often laments.

MF DOOM | “Lunch Break”

While this blurb about MF DOOM’s latest single was originally written prior to the terrible news of Daniel Dumile’s passing, we simply had to go back as the world lost one of the greatest and most visionary rappers of all time. His way with rhyme schemes and stream of consciousness lyricism put him in a class all his own, a forward thinking MC whose brilliance shined bright with every verse. “Lunch Break” was released as part of the latest Grand Theft Audio game update, a song produced by Flying Lotus for his in-game radio station. The dreamy beat blips and grooves built on silky keys and a funky break allowing DOOM to lace his swirling lyrics in signature form. It’s a classic word salad, with lines like “catch a crotch kick for a botched hit, full capacity, no room for error, such audacity, villain, truth-bearer“ that pop upon multiple listens. RIP to a genuine legend.

MOOR MOTHER & BILLY WOODS | “BRASS” LP

Moor Mother and Billy Woods are both strikingly prolific and inventive. The two have carved out their own respective lanes, but they are both prone to swerving in and out of them, pushing the envelope of genre into new realms with really interesting results. To close out the year, the pair got together for BRASS, their first collaborative record, released just as publications felt it was safe to close up shop for the year. The experimental hip-hop album is one that only they could achieve, coloring way outside the lines, with pointed lyricism that manages to glue itself to whatever the beat offers, from lo-fi primal congas and dimlight celestial jazz, to warped horns and hardened loops. The duo shine from track to track, bringing out a mix of abstract and conscious lyricism, joined by peers Mach-Hommy, Elucid, Navy Blue, and more.

OSTRAALY | “Blind Melon”

Ostraaly released their full length debut, Misery Guests, back in January and somehow we didn’t hear it until December. I’ve listened to it nearly ever day since first hearing it and will probably continue at that rate for a while to come. The Melbourne based band have made a profoundly beautiful album of dusty folk songs that swirl in a bit of psych and art rock for endless texture, and then at the end of this year, they have seemingly broken up. “Blind Melon” is a new single that comes with the message that it is the band’s final single. I’m gutted, but thankful we get one more song, and it’s unsurprisingly a great one to boot. The band have loaded up on lush twang and breezy jangle, that gives an easy backdrop for Katharine Daly’s contemplative vocals, each word ringing out in space as she and the band sing, “I’m gonna try saying “Jesus fucking Christ” this time.”

SQUITCH | “Learn To Be Alone” LP

Boston’s Squitch are one of the East Coast’s best kept secrets. If you already know them, you already love them. If you haven’t heard them yet, you will soon (and should). Learn To Be Alone is the trio’s sophomore full length, following a few scattered singles and a split EP. The record is a bold statement that deals with major life transitions and feeling dissociated from public definitions. Their words are important as they break down barriers with those closest to them and the world around them, doing so over a tangled and blistering blend of post-hardcore, mathy indie rock, and just a touch of noise pop that’s constantly hitting on sharp hooks and fractured rhythms. It’s a brilliant album from a band who deserves your attention, and while it isn’t out until New Year’s Eve, it certainly qualifies as a highlight of this year, sending us off with a knotted grace.

STEVE HARTLETT | “Molting” LP

Molting is the second solo effort of the year from Steve Hartlett, best known as the singer/guitarist for Ovlov and Stove. A collection of all the songs he’s written since heavy quarantine began back in April, it’s a brilliantly lo-fi glimpse into the intimate works of a great songwriter. These song’s are fairly skeletal but never simplistic. Hartlett experiments with programmed drums and some fun manipulated tape goodness to create something that sounds personal. Guitars still ring out with distortion, but it’s a cleaner, more streamlined approach to Hartlett’s songs than we’re used to, and the heart of them consistently shines through, with the lyrics the heavy focus on a record that feels airy and lightly centered.

SUMAC | “Two Beasts”

While SUMAC already released one of our favorite studio albums (May You Be Held) and live albums (St. Vitus 9/7/2018) of the year, the band capped it all off with another eighteen minutes of music for the Sub Pop singles club. “Two Beasts” is primal Sumac at it’s best, full of earthquaking force and cataclysmic dynamics. The trio take an immediate approach to the devastating tonality with long sustained pummeling that quickly begins to evolve underneath Aaron Turner’s deep bellowing vocals. The entire thing feels open and spacious, delivered with a crushing patience that pushes against temporal shifts. The guitar’s feel brutal and simultaneously meditative, and that’s all within the first four minutes of the massive song. It wouldn’t be very SUMAC to stay in one place for too long, and “Two Beasts” definitely does its share of sonic exploration, from the serene to utmost destructive. It may be a stand-alone single, but it’s one of the band’s absolute best.

TUNIC | “Exhaling”

Winnipeg’s Tunic have become an ever reliable noise rock band over the past six years with one full length and steady stream of singles, EPs, and tour tapes. The records are very good and if you’ve seen the band live, than you know they are even better in person. In April the trio will release Exhaling, a collection of the band’s sold out releases - Complexion, Boss, and Disappointment (plus the “Nylon” single), as well as three brand new songs. One of those new songs, “Exhaling” is the lead single, an abrasive attack that stampedes with heavy lowend, barreling its way over everything in sight. The song ups the corrosive energy in the chorus with a timely statement, “exhaling poison on you and you and you.”

VARIOUS ARTISTS | “Warm Violet: A Compilation for Chicago Community Jail Support”

The good folks behind Chicago Community Jail Support released Warm Violet, a compilation of the city’s artists with all proceeds benefitting the volunteer-run and grassroots-funded abolitionist mutual aid project. With 46 tracks from artists including NNAMDÏ & Post Animal, Ohmme, Options, Lala Lala, Ratboys, Chris Sutter (Meat Wave), and more, there are two tracks that particularly stood out to us courtesy of Floatie and Spirits Having Fun.

While Floatie have built a strong reputation in Chicago thanks to their live performances, “In The Night” marks the quartet’s first recorded output, a stellar introduction to an amazing band. The song’s knotted rhythm trickles in-between the cracks, weaving an ever tightening tapestry of jittering momentum. The band move through tangled compositions with dreamy grace and fluid sense of melody, lulling us into their outer-dimensional groove.

Spirits Having Fun released the exceptional Auto-Portrait back in 2019, full of brilliantly shifting rhythms and contorted avant-pop that was as peppered by art rock and prog as it was experimental noise pop and indie rock. While we await their sophomore album, the band share “Broken Cloud,” a disorienting and detached song that drifts on jazzy drums and the kind of kaleidoscopic psych wanderlust that the band do so damn well. There’s something bursting in and out of focus at all times, massively rewarding repeat listens.

VIAGRA BOYS | “In Spite of Ourselves” (feat. Amy Taylor) (John Prine cover)

If you had Viagra Boys teaming up with Amy Taylor of Amyl & The Sniffers to cover a John Prine song on your 2020 predictions, you’ve hit the jackpot. For all intents and purposes this one probably shouldn’t work, but it does, rather fantastically. They play “In Spite of Ourselves” somewhat straight, with a bit more of an apocalyptic scorn, but the twang of the original sits firmly in the verse’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics. It’s a hilarious song to begin with, and given the sincere performances from these two wonderful lunatics just makes it all the more charming and outright special. Viagra Boys are doing this one justice in their own sardonic way, and it’s a perfect finale to their upcoming album, Welfare Jazz.

YAUTJA | “The Kindling”

For heavy music in the year 2021, we’re calling it now, it’s Yautja’s year. The Nashville art metal band announced that signed with Relapse back in the Fall, and we’re willing to bet their upcoming album will be one of the best we hear all year long. Before that however, the band have just released a split together with Nepal’s Chepang. With each band contributing two songs, we’ve already written about Yautja’s “Test Subject” but now they’ve unleashed “The Kindling,” a song that really captures the unpredictable magic of their sound. Opening with a warped and crackling pop song that sounds like it melting as it plays, the trio quickly burst into their complex metal carnage. Pulling pieces of Sumac style dirge, explosive grindcore, and bellowing primal sludge into something that constantly shifting, Yautja never really rely on form so much as brute intensity and an experimental edge that always delivers.

YOUR OLD DROOG | “Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition” LP

Your Old Droog and his frequent collaborators, Tha God Fahim and Mach-Hommy, have become three of the most consistently astounding MCs for the past few years. They take it back to the golden age of Wu-Tang and Mobb Deep, MF DOOM and Nas, a time where lyricism and rawness was celebrated over flashy presentation and R&B hooks. Following three albums in 2019, Your Old Droog returned with Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition, an album that embraces his Eastern European heritage (similar to way that Jewelry embraced his Jewish heritage). YOD really doesn’t give a shit about rap’s rigid rule book of what is and is not acceptable, and he proves throughout the album that he’s on another level altogether, with high concept rhymes and a thread of conscious thought that runs from the start to finish. The beat selection is great and not a moment is wasted as Droog embraces a culture foreign to hip-hop, releasing what is undeniably one of the year’s best hip-hop records in the process.

Further Listening:

november 30 - december 06:

BOLDY JAMES “On Ten” } BORIS W/ MERZBOW “Boris” (Melvins cover) | CAL FISH “Feather” | CORY HANSON “Paper Fog” | DAVE VETTRAINO “Benton Harbor” | DAVID NANCE GROUP “WFMU 11/6/18” LP | DUELING EXPERTS “Which Way Is It To The Golden Buddha?“ | ESTHER ROSE “Keeps Me Running“ | THE EUROSUITE “Hot Off Depress” LP | FUCKED & BOUND “Kool Thing” (Sonic Youth cover) | GARY, INDIANA “Nike of Samothrace“ | GHOST POWER “Asteroid Witch / Inchwork“ | GOAT GIRL “The Crack” | GROUPIE “Thick As Glue” | GUSTAF “Design” | MCLUSKY “Gateway Band (Mclusky Live)“ LP | NANA YAMATO “If” | NO JOY ““ | THE NOTWIST “Sans Soleil” | OPTIONS “Room / Taste” | PINK SIIFU & FLY ANAKIN “Waiting To Get Shot“ | POISE “Show Me Your Love“ (Woods Sessions) | POOLBLOOD “My Little Room“ (Demo) | RICK RUDE “Basement Tapes Vol. 1” LP | SAM YIELD “This Must Be“ | SHAME “Snow Day“ | SPECTRAL VOICE “Necrotic Demos” LP | SPIRAL WAVE NOMADS “Radiant Drifter“ | THIS IS LORELEI “Pop 40 Town” EP | UNDERGANG “Aldig I Livet” LP | VIAGRA BOYS “Creatures”

December 07 - December 13:

December 14 - December 20:

December 21 - January 03:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (November 30th - January 3rd)