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.

CHRISTELLE BOFALE | “Miles”

Following last year’s exceptional debut EP, Christelle Bofale returns with a new stand alone-single, “Miles,” which encapsulates everything we loved about Swim Team. Dripping with a worn out soul similar to early Erykah Badu with minimal acoustic accompaniment. Thinly layered harmonies and silky bass plucks emphasize the slow paced melody, unfolding in no rush as Bofale asks “Where are we going? Where are we at all?” It’s another great song from a unique songwriter that we’re eager to here more from.

COLD MEAT | “Bad Mood”

Perth, Australia’s Cold Meat are set to release their first full length, Hot and Flustered on March 20th via Static Shock Records (Uranium Club, Physique, Warthog). Two years have passed since Pork Sword Fever but the punk band’s fury hasn’t tempered over time. Lead single “Bad Mood” is blistering feedback, frantic rhythms, and plenty of cathartic shouting as catchy as it is harsh. The band’s sound is tightly coiled and red-hot, ready to implode at any moment, but charging forward with anthemic yelps and buzzing distortion.

CORIKY | “Clean Kill”

Odds are you’ve already heard about Coriky, but then again, odds are you’re still excited about it. The new band from Ian MacKaye, Joe Lally, and Amy Farina (which you can look at as half of Fugazi plus Farina… or as The Evens plus Lally) will release their self-titled debut album via Dischord in late March, and as far as anticipated records go, this is pretty much #1. “Clean Kill” sounds somewhere between later-era Fugazi and The Evens, which is to say it’s brilliant, thought provoking, and dynamically constructed with interlocked rhythms and urgent melodic force.

HANDLE | “Rubber Necks”

From the ashes of DUDS, one of our favorite young post-punk bands, comes Handle, featuring two of the members (Giulio Erasmus and Nirvana Heire) together with Leo Hermitt to create something new and mind-bending. The Manchester based trio are set to release their debut album, In Threes, on March 6th via Upset The Rhythm / Maternal Voice, a record that is wildly discordant and built on sharp angles with samba grooves. “Rubber Necks,” is a perfect capsule of what Handle offer - cataclysmic rhythms constantly on the verge of collapse, twitchy punk aggression, and mesmerizing bass grooves that somehow manage to hold everything together.

HOLIDAY MUSIC | “No Return”

We simply can’t get enough of Holiday Music’s new album Certified Ailments, which we named “Album Of The Week” last week upon it’s Super Wimpy Punch Records release. It’s full of woozy indie rock that feels bent in time and manipulated in space with memorable lyrics, warped atmospheres, and just the perfect touch of experimental slowcore and shoegaze influences. It’s always subverting expectations, taking what is otherwise simple fuzzy rock music, and tweaking the formula ever so slightly. The album closer “No Return” is a prime example, an immediate song with layered hooks and “slacker” charm that bleeds into the night sky and bursts with a syrupy pop sludge.

HOT SNAKES | “I Shall Be Free”

Rick Froberg and the revitalized Hot Snakes sound as pissed off in 2020 as they did in 2000 (and prior with Drive Like Jehu and Pitchfork), and we’re here for it. We wrote about their last single, “Checkmate,” and we’re even more excited about their latest, “I Shall Be Free,” part of an ongoing 7” collection for Sub Pop Records. With an intro that feels like a warning shot in an apocalyptic Western, the band rip at their rawest as Froberg howls about quitting a shit job, “Not coming in today, and guess what? My day would be better spent sticking things up my butt.” It’s quintessential Hot Snakes, mean and full of greasy swagger.

KIDBUG | “Lovesick”

Last year’s Eerie Wanda album was one of our favorites and continues to sink itself deeper into our hearts with every listen. The band’s Marina Tadic returns with a new collaborative project, Kidbug, together with Joyful Noise label mates and pals, Adam Harding (Dumb Numbers), Thor Harris (Swans) and Bobb Bruno (Best Coast). Their self-titled debut is out in May with a sound they are calling “cuddlebug sludge,” which is probably more fitting than it ought to be. “Lovesick” captures the sound of record well, swirling together sugary twee pop with a muscular shoegaze force and no shortage of earworm hooks and guitar leads.

MELKBELLY | “Humid Heart“

The second single released from Melkbelly’s upcoming album, PITH, has us every bit as excited as the first. As one of the more exciting bands in recent memory, we’ve patiently awaited their new record and “Humid Heart” is a good reason to believe it’s been worth the wait. The chord progression sticks like a dense fog as Miranda Winter’s vocals float back in forth, cutting through the bent waves of overdriven sludge-pop, with her signature tongue-twisting poetics that take multiple listens to unpack. This is Melkbelly though and all praise is due to drummer extraordinaire James Wetzel who thrashes out jaw-dropping fill after jaw-dropping fill until the final monstrous moment of the finale.

PRIMO! | “Best and Fairest”

These days it feels like Anti Fade Records (Alien Nosejob, Gonzo, Parsnip) can do wrong and now they’ve joined forces with Upset The Rhythm for the release of Primo!’s latest album, Sogni. The Melbourne based quartet make an impeccably tight brand of post-punk with a krautrock nod, keeping pulsating rhythms at a hypnotic pace as they squiggle around with warbling guitars that feel something like your skin crawling right off your body. “Best and Fairest” is both dissonant and insanely catchy, a song that pairs sweet melodies and gorgeous vocals with soured progressions that are forever locked into place.

SHELL OF A SHELL | “Away Team” LP

There’s no shortage of raw emotion and complex honesty in Shell Of A Shell’s full length debut, Away Team. The record plays like a rolodex of anxieties, working through them as an exercise in stability and a message that you’re never suffering alone. The Nashville based quartet do it with a dexterity far beyond their years as a band, thanks in part to an incredibly dynamic yet cohesive set of songs. Take the perfectly paired “Fill In The Blank” and “Find Me A Field,” the former a disorienting dirge of psych-tinged post-hardcore that spirals in a bit of despair while the later builds from a dreary twang into a blissful crescendo. This album rewards multiple listens and only gets better.

SOUR WIDOWS | “Open Wide”

The Bay Area’s Sour Widows have released their self-titled album and we can’t get enough of their blended together bedroom pop, post-hardcore, big melodies, and wayward structures. With influences that range from Angel Olsen and Big Thief to Pile and Duster, you can actually hear each of those make their impact in Sour Widows’ songwriting, pushing it toward pop ease and pulling it back out with tension and delightfully unwieldy guitar progressions. “Open Wide,” the third single from the record is a gorgeously dynamic track that hits in every essence it explores. Just as the song hits the two minute mark, the walls implode, and anything fragile has since been destroyed. It’s really quiet wonderful, and there’s still plenty of shifting and well-focused wandering to come from there.

SPACE CAMP | “Fifth Grade Orchiectomy”

The density of Space Camp’s latest single “Fifth Grade Orchiectomy” is something to write home about. It’s as heavy as ten ton of bricks, steeped in unforgiving sludge, high pitched chaos, and vocals that ooze out in a garbled fury… and it’s pretty damn brilliant. The intensity resides at “10” as the band thrash in the thickest of primal aggression, the filth nearly swallowing everything whole, aside from a well-structured dip into a dismal terror of electronic blips and masked dread. The song comes from the Connecticut band’s upcoming album, Overjoyed In This World, and we can’t wait to hear more.

STUCK | “Bells”

Chicago’s Stuck are set to share the full length debut, Change Is Bad, on April 3rd via Born Yesterday Records (FCKR JR, Glued, Landowner). The band swerve between slurred aggression, blaring attacks, and tightly coiled post-punk; unhinged one moment and snapping back into place the next. “Bells” is the record’s lead single and album finale, a caustic punk song built on a motorik groove and plenty of unnerving tension. Greg Obis (guitar/vocals) breaks through the hypnotic groove with hardened near-spoken vocals (reminiscent of early Protomartyr) as he laments on those that insist “you should do better” primarily “because it’s never enough.” Stuck are a special band.

VARIOUS ARTISTS | “Look Out For My Love: A Neil Young Covers Album To Benefit Raices” LP

On a list of great ideas, a charity compilation to benefit RAICES comprised entirely of Neil Young covers, is up toward the top. It’s great in theory and turns out it’s great in actuality too. Compiled by Yeehaw Junction’s Shayla Riggs, the compilation, Look Out For My Love: A Neil Young Covers Album to Benefit RAICES is built on their idea that “at the core of Neil Young's catalog is the belief that art has the power to transform the world around us.” The record, which features halfsour, Anna McClellan, Rick Rude, Adult Mom, Wren Kitz, and more takes a varied approach in its Neil Young appreciation, with songs ranging from faithful covers to complete re-imaginings. It’s essential listening for a good cause.

WHELPWISHER | “Safe Sludge” EP

Following a record of “Song-A-Day Challenge” recordings, Ben Grigg (FCKR JR, Geronimo!, Future Biff) has shared another Whelpwisher EP, this one a bit more focused and familiar. Safe Sludge is full of vibrant hooks and blistering fuzz, each song comes cracking in with a rattled energy that works together with the warm vocals. It’s all awash in noise and distortion, but the songs are only better for it, as Grigg’s shouted pop anthems are peeled back with a cathartic blanket of volume and feedback, everything covered in a sweet hum that chooses to blast forward rather than look back. The tempo slows on closer “Loud Wine Cult,” a stunning sludge pop song that is filled with heart and layered nuance.

Further Listening:

FEBRUARY 10 - FEBRUARY 16:

FEBRUARY 17 - FEBRUARY 23:

FEBRUARY 24 - MARCH 01:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (February 10th - March 1st)