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.

CONWAY THE MACHINE | “John Woo Flick” (feat. Benny The Butcher & Westside Gunn)

The three core members of Griselda - Conway The Machine, Benny The Butcher, and Westside Gunn - have all found success on their own as solo artists. They’ve built their own lanes, Conway as the grimiest MC, Benny as the mainstream crossover, and Westside Gunn as the “curator,” masterminding it all. While they’ve branched out beyond the Buffalo streets and underground MCs (for better or worse), they’ve always been at their best when rapping together. “John Woo Flick,” the second single from Conway’s God Don’t Make Mistakes LP puts all three MCs back together once more, each delivering their own street laced dirt. It’s them at their best, offering grim criminal mafioso rap with punch lines that are mirrored by threats. Conway certainly steals the show (as he often does, truly the hardest of the trio), offering lines like “Daringer compared to RZA, I'm compared to nigg*s that'll stab you in your face with a pair of scissors.”

CUSP | “Sight Unseen”

Last year Rochester’s Cusp released their debut EP, Spill, a great introduction to a band that balances heart on sleeve emotions with dynamic tension. They seem to be growing an audience the organic way… by making great songs. They’ve returned “Sight Unseen,” a new great song that further explores the band’s mix of introspective bedroom pop and post-hardcore heft. The riffs are taut with distortion both piercing and sludgy, but the brute force of it is always in perfect cooperation with Jen Bender’s vocal harmonies and the pop centric structure of the song. It’s heavy and knotted but easily accessible in a way reminiscent of The Breeders or early Hole songs.

EXEK | “Advertise Here” LP

The ever shifting sounds of EXEK are in full splendor on their latest record, Advertise Here, an enthralling record with a magnetic grip. Blending together krautrock, dream pop, post-punk, psych and maybe even a touch of tranquil funk, the entire record locks in with a singular vision, though the Melbourne based band take many diversions in the creation of that vision. These songs are sparse but so rich in texture and atmosphere that you feel instantly pulled into their world, one where nothing appears quite as it seems, as the band warble between synth punk, dub, and colorful stabs of noise to create the picture at large. Advertise Here works both as an album to zone out to and one to listen to in great depth, led by the hypnotic slink of “Unreasonable Warmth” and the eerie drift of “Sen Yen for 30 Min of Violin”.

LAUNDROMAT | “Combo”

Anytime there’s new music from Laundromat is reason enough to be excited. Toby Hayes’ solo project has released three fantastic EPs between 2020 and 2021, one for each of the primary colors that plays exceptionally well as a full length. While we patiently await news of an album, we’re thrilled to hear “Combo,” a new single that picks up where the EPs left off. “Combo” is weary yet boisterous, with a deeply embedded groove and tight motorik beat, almost Tropicalia in influence but with more of a space=age “groop” feel. Hayes remains the master of distorted tones, overlapping and layering squiggles of guitar and feedback that add so much nuance to his songwriting. It’s all built up perfectly, allowing each element to sink in before the next comes into focus.

METZ | “Demolition Row”

Ten years have passed since the release of their full length debut and METZ are still growing on me. I don’t say that as a slight, but more the opposite, as time progresses, the band are continually getting better and taking more risks with their sound. They say an artist is only as good as their last album and METZ’s last record, Atlas Vending, is among their best. It’s an album void of compromise, one that pushed their album further into the experimental fold of punk and noise rock to hypnotic results. The band continue that path with “Demolition Row,” a new single featured on an upcoming split with Adulkt Life due out next month. Further pushing the boundaries of people’s expectations, METZ offer a sordid take on krautrock, with repetitive, deep, and heavy bass leading the way for them to careen between noise rock and more caustic psych.

PINCH POINTS | “Am I Okay?”

With an immaculate catalog of music based on hyper-sarcastic punk, you know it’s important when Pinch Points deliver a message with the utmost sincerity. “Am I Okay?” is both a timeless message and one that feels increasingly important these days, a pointed reminder to take care of yourself and your mental health. A call to check in on your own well-being isn’t too common in modern punk but then again, Pinch Points aren’t your common punk band. The Melbourne based quartet make some of the absolute tightest post-punk anywhere in the world and they do it all void of any posturing. They do it to share messages of both personal and sociopolitical concerns, all the while tearing through an incredible twin guitar attack that rips from one jagged riff to the next.

SPODEE BOY | “Neon Lights”

Connor Cummins is keeping extremely busy these days. With a constant flow of music spread between Snooper, Safety Net, and Spodee Boy, the Nashville musician is carving out a unique place in punk, one that occupies many sub-genres from freaked out “egg punk” to the Western tinged “cow punk”. Last year’s Rides Again… EP proved that Spodee Boy sounded its most radiant within that “cow punk” aura, and the band seem to embrace it once again with Neon Lights, a new EP due out via Goodbye Boozy in May. The title track is built on a frantic snare and hi-hat beat as jittery as they come but when the guitars come rumbling in, they do so in the manner of supercharged tumbleweed. It’s serrated and rusty with overdrive, but the thick twang develops like the sunset falling over outlaw country in timelapse.

STAR PARTY | “Push You Aside”

After a great demo back in 2020, Seattle’s Star Party are set to release their full length debut, Meadow Flower, next month via the unstoppable Feel It Records and Tough Love. The band, comprised of Carolyn Brennan and Ian Corrigan (Gen Pop, Vexx) have created one of our favorite albums so far this year, a blistering noise pop debut with walls of syrupy shoegaze guitars and saccharine sweet vocal melodies that cut impossibly through the din. Lead single “Push You Aside” feels is pop music at it’s core, smashed through a dense wall of noise and eventually drilled directly into your brain, delivered in a similar vein to early Jesus & Mary Chain singles.

THANK | “Thoughtless Cruelty” LP

Thank’s full length debut album, Thoughtless Cruelty, has the primal aggression of a mind pushed beyond its snapping point and the bursting synapses that result. While the album’s singles highlight the power and immediacy of the band at head-on impact, their is a brilliant range of dynamics throughout the record, opening with the sludge and drone of “From Heaven,” a stand-out that explores religious hypocrisy, stretched over a stark and rattled framework and a steady sense of gloom within the sprawling synths. All bets are off from that point forward as the band thrash between noise punk and damaged electronics, convulsing in the chaos with a permanent smirk and skewering of compromised culture. From “Very Cool” and it’s pointed take on taste and popularity to the haunted menace of “No Funeral” with it’s trickling keys and enormous distorted bass, Thank have delivered a modern classic.

USA NAILS | “It’s All In The Context”

We recently had the honor of premiering Psychic Graveyard’s “Strangest Hobbies” from the band’s upcoming Split with USA Nails, and wouldn’t you know it, the UK noise rock champs’ track is every bit as essential listening. The band waste no time with “It’s All In The Context,” the introduction to their side of the excellent pairing. Immediately lurching forward with corrosive guitars and a gloriously wonky rhythm, USA Nails come out swinging with all the bent and bruised intensity that can be packed in under a minute. The chords are knotted together with rhythms, but even in the short runtime the band drop in and out of riffs with even a moment of stop/start dynamics (which feels all the more impressive in a song this brief). USA Nails prove the value of the compact single.

Further Listening:

January 31 - February 06:

February 07 - February 13:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (January 31st - February 13th)