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.

THE DRIN | “Venom”

The Drin have emerged as true innovators of Midwestern punk. Over the course of their first two albums, the Cincinnati band has proven capable of subverting senses, blending together everything from synth punk and krautrock to icy psych and mechanized gothic lo-fi. They keep that exploratory momentum moving with their upcoming third album, Today My Friend You Drunk The Venom, a record that feels pulled from another dimension, surreal and augmented from this existence. Due out January 27th via Feel It, Drunken Sailor, and Future Shock, the band expand on what’s come before, continuing to push further into their captivating unpredictability. “Venom” is another stellar piece of their ominous puzzle. For a band rooted in the shadowier elements of post-punk, The Drin never shy away from spaced-out atmospheres and cataclysmic dissonance, but “Venom” hits with a motorik fervor, that’s downright upbeat. The rattled synths and razor sharp rhythms keep this one burning a path through the trees right into the cosmos. The relentless boogie never ceases as the melody get progressively weirder, in the best of ways.

EN ATTENDANT ANA | “Same Old Story”

After a two month wait, Paris’ En Attendant Ana are sharing the second single from their upcoming album, Principia, and it could just be our favorite track the band has released thus far. With the record out February 24th via Trouble In Mind Records (Connections, The Tubs, Nightshift), “Same Old Story” brings the band’s usual dream pop bliss a boost of silky energy, hinging itself upon the jazzy lounge and noise pop of bands like Electrelane and Stereolab. En Attendant Ana do their influences proud, pulling from the mold but adding their own distinct feel to it, slightly fuzzy but entirely engaging. They dive right into the motorik charm with their slinking rhythmic backbone, trippy synths, and scraping guitars. It’s a song about repetition and routine, and the music follows suit, with a hint of the past and the promise of the future blending together. There’s sax skronk, weird bubbles of noise that make their home just beneath the layers, and stunning vocal harmonies throughout, with elements in constant flux, pulling your attention in all directions.

NIGHTTIME | “When The Wind Is Blowing”

Nighttime, the solo project of Eva Louise Goodman, is creating psychedelic folk music that feels as intimate as does immaculate, sweeping with grand gestures while retaining a sense of self. Her third album, Keeper Is The Heart, due out January 20th via Ba Da Bing Records (Heather Trost, Fusilier, Delia Meshlir), was recorded in upstate New York with Rick Spataro, capturing Goodman’s songs with a lush beauty and a cinematic glow, where the arrangements shimmer to their full potential. While lead single “Curtain Is Closing” bent Nighttime’s psych with a subtle Americana twang via galloping bass, her latest, “When The Wind Is Blowing” opts to drift with the atmosphere, moving with mellotron flourishes and vast dips into the unknown, separating Goodman’s words with arid texture. Much like Cate le Bon and Weyes Blood, Nighttime is able to channel a cosmic sense of grace with a hint of unease as the lines of reality are blurred and overtly ignored,

ROTARY CLUB | “American Tower”

My familiarity with the Killed By Death compilations is minimal at best, but it would seem pivotal in the arrival of Reno, Nevada’s Rotary Club and their new single, “American Tower,” the A-side to their upcoming Iron Lung Records (Speed Plans, Doldrey, Bad Breeding) 7” debut. Taking influence from the early 80’s punk subset, with an unbridled simplicity and rampant energy, this song a ripper, start to finish. Explosive from the onset, this is raw with primal energy but as hooky as they come, punk as the ultimate earworm. It’s a barn burner, a rocker of the purest intent, with big ol’ riffs that come crushing like tidal waves, and a rhythm section gleefully intent on stampeding. With a theme that seems to revolve around landlines and the kind of telephones that don’t sit in your pocket, there’s a radiant charm to Rotary Club’s slugging pop sweetness, biting with melodic hooks and ruthless uppercuts all the same, sweet and sour, but entirely infectious. It’s hard to make something this immediate that continues to sound great listen after listen, but Rotary Club have nailed this one, breathing new life into the receiver.

S.H.I.T. | “Demo 2023” EP

We last wrote about Toronto hardcore luminaries S.H.I.T. at the tail end of 2021 upon the release of their Hidden In Eternity single and while all has been relatively quiet since, the band are kicking down the doors of this new year with Demo 2023, an EP that pairs together two unhinged new tracks with a pair of equally blistering covers. Blending utter annihilation with the psychedelic touchstones that have defined their records, it’s in that amalgamation that S.H.I.T. are able to pummel their way through hardcore dirge and bleeding distortion with a sense of clarity that is often swallowed whole in less capable hands. The two originals are oozing with noise, a thick fog hangs over the mix, but every abrasive yelp and buzzsaw riff lands with maximum impact. It’s a great demo that continues the band’s thunderous hardcore assault from the steadily building tsunami of “Imminent Destruction” to their own disgusted cover of Blitz’s defiant “Never Surrender”.

TEE VEE REPAIRMANN | “Bus Stop”

With a constant flood of music, Ishka Edmeades stays busy, stays on theme, but hardly stays in one place for too long. As a member of some of the world’s favorite modern weirdo hardcore/punk bands (Research Reactor Corp, Gee Tee, Remote Control), the Sydney based musician also finds time for a slew of solo projects, including Satanic Togas, Set-Top Box, and his recent focus, Tee Vee Repairmann. Following on from Patterns, the project’s debut EP in 2021, Edmeades is set to release What’s On TV, a new full length via Total Punk Records (Alien Nosejob, Curleys, Heavy Metal) and Computer Human Records (Liquids, Prison Affair, Erik Nervous). While retaining some of the scuzz and jerky structures from his usual output, Tee Vee Repairmann’s songwriting feels more fussed over, with a bit more nuance and a whole lot more melodic grace. “Bus Stop,” the album’s first single is a power-pop gem, crackling with raw production and greasy guitars, but syrupy sweet with catchy hooks, sugar spun riffs, and earnest garage pop bliss.

WHELPWISHER | “Cool Good” EP

With releases from Babe Report and Big Big Bison in 2022, Chicago’s Ben Grigg is kicking off the new year with a return to his solo project, Whelpwisher. Recorded at his home but far from lo-fi, Cool Good, his latest EP is full of muscular indie fuzz and well wrangled feedback to pair with otherwise bright hooks and an adventurous sense of structure. The songs are presented like a springboard of Grigg’s ideas, taking their own shape (and often forgoing traditional shape) through heartfelt face-melters (“Lloyd Have Mercy”) and would be alternative radio gems (“Universal”). Then there’s “Juice 2,” a song that opens with harmonic sludge and slowcore precision before the tempo takes an eventual shift and the dread passes like the clouds into a shuffle of snares and laser focused guitars. We’ve always been under the impression that Grigg creates music as Whelpwisher because he wants to, simple as that. There’s no pressure, no expectations, and yet it’s always such a joy to hear what he’s been working on.

Further Listening:

december 19 - January 01:

JANUARY 02 - JANUARY 08:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (December 19th - January 8th)