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.

BEAK> | “Ah Yeh”

The great sonic explorations of Bristol’s Beak> continue with their latest single “Oh Know” (previously released with a great video) and it’s cosmic krautrock b-side “Ah Yeh,” which obvious comparisons aside, is absolutely mesmerizing. Geoff Barrow’s rhythm comes toppling into view, a stunning beat that grooves from start to finish as the trio (rounded out by Billy Fuller and Will Young) glide with kinetic energy and subdued hooks.

BIG|BRAVE & THE BODY | “Blackest Crow”

We’ve already expressed our admiration for Big|Brave and The Body’s collaborative LP when they shared the album’s first single, but “Blackest Crow” is another undeniable stunner. The two bands come together to make Americana and folk in their most experimental reaches and the album opener is positively transfixing. Both bands work to harness repetition with spikes of beautiful melody. They dig a deep hole, a welcome pit of aural wonder that never really relies on their respective catalogs.

C.O.F.F.I.N. | “City Sun” + “Under Your Wing”

It’s been just about a year since Sydney’s C.O.F.F.I.N. released the explosive noise rock shredfest that is Children of Finland Fighting in Norway. We only caught wind of the album earlier this year when it was reissued in Europe by Erste Theke Tontraeger, but the record has quickly become a favorite. Their sound is a mix of burly pub rock and brute punk, like Thin Lizzy meets Feedtime. They’re back with a new split EP (together with Mini Skirts), two amped up rippers that are big on shredding riffs and relentless energy.

CLAIRE CRONIN | “Bloodless”

It’s been two years since Los Angeles’ Claire Cronin released the dark folk beauty of Big Dread Moon and she’s back with a new full length, Bloodless, due out in November via Orindal Records (Macie Stewart, Wednesday, Karima Walker). The title track is beautiful, sparse, and gritty, a song that captures the noir shadows of Cronin’s “haunted Americana.” There’s definitely a sinister edge to the songwriting but it’s juxtaposed by the gorgeous performance and the slight twang that permeates the song.

DUMMY | “Final Weapon”

Dummy’s cosmic psych and dream-gaze may owe some touches to Stereolab and Broadcast (as they’re aware of), but the sonic landscape built on Mandatory Enjoyment, their full length debut feels modern and refreshing. Second single “Final Weapon” doesn’t have the immediacy of “Daffodils,” but that’s the point, this one is an exploration of intricate rhythms and krautrock expanse, a fusion of strobing synths, discordant textures, and motorik escapism… and it’s hypnotic brilliance. The Emma Maatman directed video is wonderfully colorful and deranged.

KOWLOON WALLED CITY | “Piecework”

Praise be the return of Oakland’s Kowloon Walled City. It’s been six long years since the band released Grievances, their last full length. Following a three-way split earlier this year, the band are back with Piecework, their fourth album, due out next month via Neurot Recordings and Gilead Media. Having already shared “Oxygen Tent,” the record’s announcement comes via the title track, a crushingly sludgy blast of dismal noise rock and post-hardcore fusion with a glacial pace and heaviness. Everything sounds willingly destructive yet precisely clear, a crisp recording of the bubbling chaos and insurmountable tension.

MAXSHH | “Thanks For The Crabapples”

When we wrote about Maxshh’s last single, “The Stone and I and Everybody,” we mentioned his new album, Bonus Flowers, was an “acoustic” record, though the single didn’t entirely fit that mold. His latest, “Thanks For The Crabapples” however is full on acoustic splendor, a beautifully constructed song with classical flourishes and upright bass accompaniment. The lyrics are pulled from an episode of Adventure Time and the video, animated / directed by Jim Warren finds our hero on a road trip with some elastic apple-pickin’ arms, water people, and a beautiful homage to the album’s cover art.

SMOKE BELLOW | “Anniversary”

Smoke Bellow’s Open For Business is due out at the end of the week, another highly anticipated album from the ever wonderful folks at Trouble In Mind Records (Melenas, Mountain Movers, FACS). Our last preview of the record comes courtesy of “Anniversary,” a meditative blur of synth layered psych and dream pop, transfixed in a minimal density before it opens with art-pop rhythms and silken guitar leads. The layers are rich and serene, the perfect drift for Meredith McHugh’s beautiful voice and the song’s outward celestial push.

STEVE HARTLETT | “Waste Of Water” LP

Following a string of exceedingly lo-fi singles and half wrought demos (each a treasure in their own right), Steve Hartlett (Ovlov, Stove) has released his proper full length solo debut, Waste of Water, an album that arrives without a press cycle or media hype, but deserves it all the same. Fully realized and executed with the fuzzy touches of Stove’s debut record, Waste of Water is awash in sludge pop hooks, soft embraces, and melodic distortion. Hartlett’s signature knack for writing catchy songs often buried just beneath the mix remains ever brilliant, winding his way through feedback and crushing melancholic pop.

WHELPWISHER | “Eerie Dearie” LP

Our love for Whelpwisher, the solo project of Ben Grigg (Babe Report, FCKR JR, Geronimo!) knows no bounds. The Chicago based songwriter writes damn fine songs and his latest album, Eerie Dearie, is no exception. Grigg’s guitars are always set to blistering, with big and bright solos, seismic distortion, and a core rooted in late 80’s and early 90’s underground rock. Every chord is radiant, the choruses thick with earworms, and the deflated vocal melodies that feel bummed out but hopefull. Whelpwisher aren’t reinventing the wheel but they make a really fucking good wheel.

Further Listening:

August 30 - September 5:

September 6 - September 12:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (August 30th - September 12th)