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.

We’re going to continue to do this a bit different this week as we’re running behind on this column. Consider this the “lightning round,” where everything is twice as fast and twice as fun. There’s been a lot of amazing music over the past week, so don’t take our abbreviated blurbs as a sign of anything other than us just getting behind on our responsibility to bring you the best new music.

ASTRAL SWANS | “Flood” (feat. Julie Doiron)

It’s been three years since Astral Swans’ last full length, but the project has announced a new self-titled album, due out October 8th via Victory Pool Records, an album said to be written in Swann’s head while taking walks around various cities (pre-pandemic) and then the same city (during the pandemic). “Flood,” the record’s lead single sounds immaculate right from the jump. The song, which features guest vocals from Julie Doiron (Eric’s Trip, Mount Eerie), is sparse in nature, but truly has an enormous feel, built on Kevin Sullivan’s smooth saxophone lead, lush keys and acoustic guitars, with a steady rhythm, and Swann’s warm vocals.

BOLDY JAMES & THE ALCHEMIST | “Bo Jackson” LP

Detroit’s Boldy James was on a tear last year, dropping one great album after another, the most high-profile of which was The Price of Tea in China, his collaboration with The Alchemist. The duo are back together again for Bo Jackson, their latest full length and quite possibly the best project either has released in recent memory (which says a lot as they’ve both been having a pretty flawless run). James has never sounded better than he does on this record, lacing cold street rap with vibrant lyricism and an endlessly effective flow. This record is easily one of the year’s best hip-hop albums.

CHERUBS | “Lazy Snakes (Skrewd Version)”

One of the greatest noise rock bands of all time, Austin’s Cherubs return as only they can, with a new EP that pairs both a “regular” side with a “skrewd” side, much like the Texas hip-hop scene over in Houston. While this strange gimmick wouldn’t work for most bands, with Cherubs, slowing and slurring their sound isn’t all that drastic a difference, it just makes things a bit more deranged than usual. “Lazy Snakes (Skrewd Version)” is definitely peeled back and distorted beyond usual, but it’s signature Cherubs at its core, a band that truly continues to make the most of their reunion, sounding as vital and demented as ever.

FLOATIE | “Audiotree Live”

Chicago’s Floatie released their debut album, Voyage Out, back in March, one of the year’s best debuts that found the band bridging the gap between complex math rock and beautifully dreamy art rock. Their music has a presence that feels both serene and psychedelic, with continuous structures that are constantly evolving. The quartet’s recent Audiotree session captures every bit of the album’s magic in their live performance, with several highlights from the album and a brilliantly crafted new song as well.

MACIE STEWART | “Garter Snake”

Macie Stewart has continuously released forward thinking art-pop and indie rock as one half of Chicago’s Ohmme, but now she’s set to release Mouth Full of Glass, her solo debut. Due out September 24th via Orindal Records (Lisa/Liza, Wednesday), it’s a beautiful mix of serene and avant-garde, a sure footed approach that relies on musicality over any genre boundaries. “Garter Snake” is the album’s second single, a woozy acoustic song featuring captivating vocals and a very delicate horn arrangement by Sen Morimoto. As Stewart sings “I am addicted to indecision,” the background begins to swell and the lush atmosphere opens itself up.

MAXSHH | “The Stone and I and Everybody”

Since their debut split together with Lrrr, Maxshh aka Max Goldstein has been progressively shapeshifting his project, one amazing record at a time. With the upcoming release of Bonus Flowers, it feels as though everything has been leading up to this point. Due out in September, the “acoustic” album is a mix of intricately beautiful acoustic songs with a few unpredictable turns thrown in, one of them being lead single “The Stone and I and Everybody”. With a melodic theme that worms throughout, it’s deceptively catchy as it moves from form to form.

PILE | “Songs Known Together, Alone” LP

It only takes one listen of Pile’s latest album, Songs Known Together, Alone to realize this one has something special going for it. It’s more than just a set of Rick Maguire’s solo performances, it’s a complete re-imagination of the catalog, not just in the way they’ve been performed, but the tonality and structure is given a new fluidity, one that feels like the comfort of a weighted blanket or the unshakeable connection between friends. The record is familiar but alien, bringing songs you’ve known and loved for years into a new light, with textures both sparse and ambient coming together through guitars, loops, and synths.

SPIRIT WAS | “I Saw The Wheel”

We’ve heard bits and pieces of Spirit Was since the late days of the much beloved LVL UP, but the new band led by Nick Corbo has just announced their full length debut, Heaven’s Just A Cloud. Due out in late October via Danger Collective (Red Ribbon, Momma, French Vanilla), the record borrows from the sound that established him as an artist but expands way beyond it, making muted indie rock that’s deep into the sludge. Lead single “I Saw The Wheel” is a perfect example, opening with awesome harmonies and riffs both thick and slow. It’s not until the end of the song that you really feel the scope of the project, but as the ground crumbles out, (“the whole things coming down”) the song lurches into a bit of abrasive black metal. It’s safe to say no one say that coming.

SPIRITS HAVING FUN | “See A Sky”

Chicago’s Spirits Having Fun are getting ready to release their sophomore album, Two, later this week via the venerable Born Yesterday Records (Landowner, Mesh, Cafe Racer) and the band’s latest single “See A Sky” has us anxious to hear the album in full. There are so many moving part, the guitars shuffling in and out of focus together with the loose rhythms, collapsing and reforming (like one of those toys where you push the bottom and the person falls but then snaps back into place). It’s that great. “See A Sky” is on the calmer end of the band’s spectrum but full of subtly disorienting twists and turns that pair well with the otherwise dreamy tranquility and the jazzy finale.

STEVE HARTLETT | “308” EP

Recorded while cat and dog sitting for a friend, 308 is an unfiltered look into Steve Hartlett’s (Ovlov, Stove) songwriting process, a collection that capture the intimacy of songs that get to their emotional core. There’s nothing to hide behind on the mostly acoustic release, as the songs were both written and recorded intermittently within the span of eleven days. The EP takes both a traditional approach to Hartlett’s beloved songwriting and pairs it together with two electronic instrumentals, songs that could soundtrack your favorite old school arcade game. It’s a nice combination that gives a breath of fresh air to both aspects.

STUCK | “Labor Leisure”

Chicago’s Stuck have release what could be the perfect EP with Content That Makes You Feel Good, one where musical brilliance (seriously, this band is impeccably tight) with some of the most pointed and important lyrics we’ve heard in a while. It all starts with the opener, “Labor Leisure,” a song about the blurring divide between the work/life balance, an ever increasing concern for many of us. The guitars rattle through sharp harmonics and slow dirged attacks, and the whole thing builds an all too relatable tension. Stuck forever.

SYLVIE | “Falls On Me“ (feat. Marina Allen)

Sylvie is the collaborative project of Benjamin Schwab (Drugdealer), an effort that pays homage to the lost and unknown AM gold of the Laurel Canyon era of 70’s rock and folk. Each song from the group’s self-titled EP, due out October 1st via Terrible Records, features a different vocalist, with Marina Allen handling vocals on their latest single, “Falls On Me”. Having released her own EP earlier this summer (a true must listen we missed at its time of release), Allen sounds utterly radiant here, the perfect combo of folk and indie soul, like a warm and hazy summer dream. We could listen to her sing all day long and I’m thankful to have been introduced to her music (even if we’re late).

THIRDFACE | “Villains!”

Having already released the best hardcore album of the year (yes… that checks out), Nashville’s Thirdface have now also released the best music video of the year for Do It With A Smile highlight “Villains!”. It’s not often that a lot of effort gets put into music videos these days, but this one plays with a cinematic quality. Directed by Zack Ledbetter, the mini horror epic makes great use of a revenge fantasy as the workers rise up over their oppressors. It’s bloody, there’s a crazy demon (who is also bloody), a big ass sword… everything you could ever hope for.

TONER | “Bleeder”

Full of sweet melodic dissonance and even sweeter fuzz, Oakland’s Toner are getting ready to release a new album later this week, the great White Buffalo Roam via Smoking Room (Cruz, Justus Proffit, Tony Molina). Having already shared two strong singles (“Ox ‘45” and “Silver Lining”), their latest “Bleeder” is an infectious blend of shoegaze and slacker punk, the kind of song that drags itself through the mud but remains rooted in the clouds. It’s thick with layered guitars and propulsive riffs, an ever giving landslide of bent distortion to carry the floating vocal melody. It “gets under your skin” but in a good way.

VANISHING TWIN | “Phase One Million”

I thought the first new Vanishing Twin single was a great song and then they had to go and share “Phase One Million” and just up my anticipation to impossible heights. Taken from their upcoming album, Ookii Gekkou, due out in mid October via Fire Recordings, the song is a mixture of the retro-dream pop psych they’ve always excelled at with an undeniably funky rhythm section (seriously, listen to the bass) and while a bit of funk can have mixed results, the band’s krautrock visions and hypnotic boogie work wonders together, creating something that feels like a slow burn that explode any moment but never does.

Further Listening:

August 09 - August 15:

August 16 - August 22:

AUGUST 23 - AUGUST 29:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (August 9th - August 29th)