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.

BRODKA & SCOTTIBRAINS | “Wrong Party”

Many people consider the UK’s Speedy Wunderground label to be a hit factory of sorts, pumping out releases from Black Midi, Squid, Sinead O’Brien, Tiña, and so many others over recent years. When not producing records and running the label, Dan Carey plays in the trio Scottibrains, whose sound mixes krautrock, post-punk, and indie rock in a way familiar to his label’s roster. For the latest single in the label’s ongoing series they’ve teamed up with Polish pop artist Brodka, to create a track that bounces on a motorik beat and swirls with a catchy disco like accessibility. It all comes delightfully unglued as it moves forward, a pairing that brings out the best of both artists.

FAKE FRUIT | “No Mutuals”

The Bay Area’s Fake Fruit are set to release their self-titled debut album in March via Rocks In Your Head Records (Galore, Sonny & The Sunsets), a fantastic album of syrupy post-punk in the vein of PYLON, Suburban Lawns, or more recently Sweeping Promises. It’s ragged yet tight, with each song overloaded on hooks and catchy punk jangle. Lead single “No Mutuals” leans into the fuzz pop element of their sound, but it’s rooted in an enormous post-punk groove that moves in between the cracks, slinking and sputtering to give way to Hannah D’Amato’s infectious howling vocals. The song is pretty amazing. The video is pretty amazing. The album is… pretty amazing.

GOAT GIRL | “On All Fours” LP

Goat Girl’s self-titled album was an absolute favorite of 2018, one of the best debuts of the past decade. As the singles of their follow up, On All Fours, began to trickle out, it was apparent we weren’t getting a repeat of their previous record. While the singles could be slightly misleading to the album as a whole, it’s definitely clear that Goat Girl have expanded their sound, moving deeper into synth experimentation, but that smoky charm and dusty post-punk twang that lie at their core remains well in-tact. Songs like album opener “Pest” and “Once Again” are great examples of the band’s knack for taught songwriting opening up to more celestial exploration, an outward reach into cosmic pop that works together with their darker lounge soaked aura.

MAXSHH | “Feedback & PB” LP

Recorded sporadically over the span of five years, it’s a colossal reflection of Max Goldstein’s many impulses, with each idea fully explored and given space to evolve. This is a fantastically weird album and it wears that experimental quality with a cohesive grace. It’s not strange for the sake of being strange, Maxshh’s latest is still built on songs, but the tendency to push those songs further into the abyss of no-wave, manipulated noise, and the progressive beyond is ever apparent. Which is all to say that Feedback & PB is a wild ride, but one that’s been constructed as such from the classical folk swoon of “Song for F” to the impenetrable atonal finale of “Alignment,” and all the cacophony that comes between. There’s no one song that captures this album, it’s a living, breathing statement of shifting ideas, which really needs to be heard in full.

MISTER GOBLIN | “Six Flags America”

It’s been just over a year since Mister Goblin’s full length debut, Is Path Warm?, and Sam Goblin (formerly of Two Inch Astronaut) returns with his latest album, Four People In An Elevator and One Of Them Is The Devil, a very loose concept album about the 2010 movie “Devil,” the plot of which is outlined in the record’s title. The lead single “Six Flags America” is as stunning a song as Goblin has become known for over the years, one that tugs on your heart with a smirk, using delicate acoustics and sweeping strings (those strings!) but also taking about barfing and “The Joker” rollercoaster. Joined by frequent collaborators Sadie Dupuis (Speedy Ortiz/Sad13) and Matt Gatwood (Two Inch Astronaut) as well as Seth Engel (who produced and drummed on the album), the collective have made something highly beautiful and conceptually hilarious despite it’s sentiment of disappointment.

NOPES | “Djörk“ LP

We’ve been huge fans of Nopes over here for the past five or so years and with each album they seem to get better and better. Stapler was among our favorites in 2018 and the Oakland trio return with in 2021 with the wonderfully named, Djörk, a record that is seemingly faster, louder, and generally more mangled than every before. Built on blistering noise rock with a tinge of SST and a bit of hardcore pummeling, Nopes both SHRED (and we can’t overstate that) and offer a deranged boogie in equal measure, always clawing into the red and hellbent on raw destruction. It’s loud, heavy, and this time around, oozing with a sordid swagger. Wear a damn mask so that Nopes can tour again, but these songs will absolutely rip in a live setting.

PALBERTA | “Palberta5000” LP

Palberta have been inching closer to “pop” with every single release since the very beginning, and they’re more or less arrived in the pop-realm on the exceptional Palberta5000, or at least as close as they’ll ever get. No one is going to confuse Palbeta with Lana Del Ray or anything like that (thankfully), but the weird-to-accessible scale is tipping closer to the accessible this time around with some amazing results (“Big Bad Want”). This is still very much the world that Palberta created back way back in 2013, complete with detached punk (“The Cow”), inescapable harmonies (“The Way That You Do”), and off kilter progressions (“Red Antz”), but it’s all been sewn together into something “neater” and more digestible, their post-punk bliss shinning like a beam of delightfully unique sunshine.

THE PEACERS | “Irish Suit”

I never expected to love The Peacers as much as I do but I consider their sophomore album, Introducing the Crimsmen to be a genuine under-appreciated classic. The band, led by Mike Donovan (Sic Alps) create lo-fi psych that feels as though it could either crumble into the dust or cosmically explode at any minute. It’s casual fuzz and analog sound is gentle but the band draw upon a progressive touch at times (often courtesy of former Thee Oh Sees drummer Mike Shoun), subtly bending time and space. The quartet return with Blexxed Rec and first single “Irish Suit” is true to form, both subdued and soaring way up in the clouds. Donovan and co. keep it warped, relaxed, and always a bit unpredictable in the way everything lands.

SQUID | “Narrator” (feat. Martha Skye Murphy)

Believe the hype that surrounds Squid. After a string of great to really great singles (may we never forget “Houseplants,” a song way too good to only exist in the digital world) and an EP that didn’t entirely live up to those singles, the band announced their full length debut, Bright Green Field, and we’re happy to confirm it’s every bit as amazing as the band’s best moments and beyond. Lead single “Narrator” takes an immediate approach to a very non-immediate path, winding between motorik swirls and drummer/vocalist Ollie Judge’s agitated yelps (we could listen to him yell all day). The song wanders into a hypnotic drift of spoken word and psychedelic howls from guest Martha Skye Murphy, built on repetition and tightly coiled tension that builds and builds until it simply slams into a head on collision.

THA GOD FAHIM & YOUR OLD DROOG | “Tha Wolf On Wall St.” LP

It’s only February 1st, but our most anticipated hip-hop album of the year has arrived courtesy of Tha God Fahim and Your Old Droog. While the pair have collaborated plenty over the past few years, Tha Wolf On Wall St. is their first official record together and the duo delivers with flawless execution (even if 2020’s best hip-hop single “Mailman” isn’t on it). Both Tha God Fahim and Your Old Droog offer their brand of wisdom and slick rhymes, dazzling with lyrics that both stunt on gimmicky cornball rappers and address social justice and class warfare. The way both TGF and YOD are able to seamlessly weave between the two is always impressive, often giving the impression that their deliveries are effortless, but there’s few in modern hip-hop who are operating at this level. The entire record is produced by Tha God Fahim, who has an impeccable taste for jazzy loops and dusty soul beats that keep it simple, an easy framework for the duo to lace the tracks with an onslaught of memorable rhymes.

Further Listening:

JANUARY 18 - JANUARY 24:

JANUARY 25 - JANUARY 31:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (January 18th - January 31st)