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.

BUILT TO SPILL | “Bloody Rainbow” (Daniel Johnston cover)

Built to Spill hasn’t released any new music since Post-Trash has been a site (though their latest album Untethered Moon was easily one of our favorites from our inaugural year) but the band have recorded once more. Back in 2017 the band had a chance to perform a series of shows together with Daniel Johnston, and the trio delivered on his quirky pop with the jangly indie fuzz they helped to perfect since the early 90’s. Having recorded their rehearsals, Built to Spill are sharing the recordings in honor of the late great Johnston’s timeless songwriting. “Bloody Rainbow” opens the album, and while nothing can really compare to the personal nature of Johnston’s own songwriting, Built to Spill do a great job to capture the warmth and melodic magic to the poetic song.

CALIFONE | “Bandicoot”

For nearly twenty years now, Califone has been making atmospheric and occasionally spacey folk music with a heavy heart. Generally sparse and overloaded with sentiment, the Los Angeles via Chicago project of Tim Rutili has become dependently somber. The project has never been without an experimental touch however, and new album Echo Mine, looks to fully embrace that sound. Created as the score for a Robyn Mineko Williams choreographed dance, the record takes Califone beyond any confines and they’ve never sounded better. “Bandicoot,” the record’s third single bleeds with krautrock and psych energy, sounding closer to a lost Beak> track than anything associated with Red Red Meat. With a propulsive rhythm that rivals Can for its hypnotic nature, the song roars into being, and squiggles its way forward with layered noise pop and washed out psych.

LIÉ | “Bugs”

Vancouver’s Lié have been making great records for the better part of the decade, chaotically bouncing between dirt-soaked garage punk, darkly tipped post-punk, and the occassion hardcore influences to create something that is their own, but fits well in today’s general experimental punk circles. Set to release their latest album, You Want It Real, via Mint Records (Dumb, Faith Healer, Kiwi Jr) at the end of the month, each single released so far (and their fantastically strange videos) has got us increasingly excited about the release. Third single “Bugs” is Lié at their chaotic best, a ferocious song that scrapes with distorted guitars and hard driven rhythms, flexing those hardcore influences with a ragged charm as they shout and twist with the aggression at fever pitch. The infestation of “Bugs” gets under your skin as they forcefully yelp “oh it’s all inside your head, you might as well be dead.”

MELENAS | “3 Segundos”

Hailing from Pamplona, Spain, Melenas are creating garage pop at its most infectious, big on melodic hooks that rattle around in your brain for days on end. Set to release a new album, Dias Raros, via the ever amazing Trouble In Mind Records (En Attendant Ana, David Nance, FACS), the quartet made an instant fan out of fan me with the record’s first single, “3 Segundos” and it’s endearingly great video. The clip, directed by Iker Insausti, follows the band through a series of TV theme songs, from sitcoms to police dramas and sci-fi, it’s pretty damn brilliant and a guaranteed good time. The sing along melodies of the track are equally amazing, even if you don’t speak a word of Spanish, Melenas are able to create something that’s universally memorable, the motorik beat and surf-gaze guitars forming a jubilant groove allowing the vocals to bounce and shimmer.

THE WHIP | “Everybody Deserves to Eat”

While this isn’t exactly new music, it is seeing release for the first time in 2020, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. A bit of history… following the demise of the legendary KARP, the band members went their separate ways. In 2001 however, that band’s Jared Warren (now of Big Business) and Scott Jernigan joined together with Joe Preston (ex-Melvins) to form The Whip, an all too short lived project that fills the gap between KARP and Big Business to perfection. The band’s heavy sludge and howled vocals were anthemic and hard-crushing, full of brute force and an intelligent kind of charm (much like the rest of Warren’s projects). Having recorded sessions with Unwound’s Justin Trosper and with Preston himself, the band’s entire catalog (which is nearly all unreleased) will arrive on vinyl courtesy of Wantage USA. “Everybody Deserves to Eat” is a song from the Preston sessions in 2003, a colossal track that stampedes forward like a bulldozer, with Warren’s signature low end howls ringing out with his uniquely raw melodic sense. All fans of KARP and Big Business need this one.

Further Listening:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (February 3rd - February 9th)