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.
BUILT TO SPILL | “Gonna Lose”
Following the dissolution of Built to Spill’s classic line-up sometime after 2009’s There Is No Enemy, Doug Martsch decided to keep the project going with a revolving door of musicians. The first new iteration of the band included Jason Albertini (Helvetia) and Stephen Gere, who played on the magnificent Untethered Moon and the band’s Daniel Johnston covers album. Since then however, the live band has been in a constant change. One of those live line-ups included Le Almeida and João Casaes, both of the great Brazilian band Oruã. At some point in time over the pandemic, the that trio got together and recording a new Built to Spill album, When The Wind Forgets Your Name, the band’s first for Sub Pop. Due out in September, the lead single “Gonna Lose” is quintessential Built to Spill, loaded with fuzzy riffs and Martsch’s unmistakable shaky melodies. The trio breathe new life into the band’s bummer pop formula, and it sounds (unsurprisingly) triumphant.
GENTLE HEAT | “Closer II”
Chicago quintet Gentle Heat are getting ready to release Sheer, their second full length album (and first since 2018) on May 13th via Flesh & Bone Records. The band, which features members of Stuck and The Deals among others, play a blend of shoegaze and dream pop, with a dreamy and often dreary touch of post-punk thrown in, creating a sound that’s lush but sharply drawn. While most shoegaze tends to be drawn out to allow for the wall of guitars to fully envelope the listener, Gentle Heat keep it economical on their latest single “Closer II,” opting instead for the not-a-moment-wasted method. Sarah Clausen and David Algrim’s vocals pair together beautiful over retro-futuristic synths, slow building distortion, and a muscular hook that bursts the song open at the seams.
LA NEVE | “History Solved” EP
Three years after the release of The Vital Cord, Providence’s La Neve returns with History Solved, a new EP of damaged disco punk and sordid electronic noise rock. The solo project of Downtown Boys’ Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, La Neve has a cinematic quality to it, one set in a dystopian future, where labor issues, power dynamics, and sex have all blurred together. Joined on the EP by Karna Ray on drums, La Neve bring pulsating electronics and rusty guitars to a head-on collision, making music that’s well aware of both industrial metal and dance punk. The sound is reminiscent of bands like Uniform or Deaf Club, but the electronic elements are more pronounced, with gothic elements spilling out in the moody vocals. A mix of cultural dread and supernatural disorientation lead the way, as everything around us feels as though it’s crumbling, because well… it is.
ROSE MERCIE | “Un Château” + “Cats & Dogs” + “Witching”
Released back in 2018, Rose Mercie’s self-titled album was stunning, a post-punk record that blended garage pop jangle and dream-pop ease to create something that felt hypnotic in a way few albums do. I became obsessed with the song “Floating,” and then following the release, hadn’t heard much from the French quartet. Thankfully, they’re still doing their thing, and their sophomore album, ¿Kieres Agua?, is due out May 4th via Celluloid Lunch and Jelodanti Records. Their music doesn’t so much as drift from movement to movement as it does evolve, not so much in a technical way but with feeling, each part plays to resolution before the band transfix on the next. With the announcement of their new record comes three singles, the slinky French-sung “Un Chateau,” the detached and blinking “Cats and Dogs,” and deep grooves of “Witching”. Each song brings you into its own aura, where motorik rhythms and engaging harmonies work their magic through warm repetition.
WARTHOG | “Four Walls”
Celebrating ten years together, it would seem that New York City’s favorite hardcore band Warthog may never release a full length album, but with the impeccably high quality of each EP released, it doesn’t really matter. Set to release their sixth EP (the third in a row to be self-titled) on May 6th via Toxic State and Static Shock Records, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a ripper as confirmed by lead single “Four Walls”. Bleeding together hardcore and trash metal, the song is everything we’ve come to expect from the band, relentless riffs, brutal rhythms, shredding solos, and the harsh vocals of Christopher Hansell. With enough disgust to please fans of crust punk and death metal alike, this one goes full-blast, a disgusted rager that digs through dirt and sludge at top speed, annihilating our senses in the best of ways, one propulsive riff at a time.
Further Listening:
A. BILLI FREE & THE LASSO “Riding The Beam” | ABRONIA “What We Can See“ | BLACK STAR “Mineral Mountain” (feat. Black Thought) | BORIS “Funnel of Love” (Sqürl cover) | CAUTION “Hand That Looks Like Mine” | CONGOTRONICS INTERNATIONAL “Mulume/Change” | CRIME OF PASSING “Ways of Hiding” | DEAF CLUB “But Does It Fart?” | DION LUNADON “Living And Dying With You” | ELZHI & GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW “Nefertiti” | ERASERS “Easy To See” | THE FOLK IMPLOSION “Feel It If You Feel It” EP | FONFON RU “Collapse of the Silver Bridge” LP | GUIDED BY VOICES “Alex Bell / Focus on the Flock” | JAE SKEESE & BIG GHOST LTD “Authenticity Check” LP | JUST MUSTARD “Mirrors” | MARKET “Old” | NAIMA BOCK “Giant Palm” | NAOMI ALLIGATOR “Seasick” | OTOBOKE BEAVER “Yakitori” | PARTY DOZEN “Fat Hans Gone Mad / Dog Plan“ | PINK SIIFU "GripTape'!!" (feat. Valee) | PREDATORY LIGHT “To Plead Like Angels” | PRIMITIVE MAN “Cage Intimacy” | RANSOM “Circumstances” (feat. The Game) | SAAJTAK “There’s A Leak In The Shielding” | SLOW DAWN “Decompression” | SONIC YOUTH “Live In Kyiv, Ukraine 1989” LP | THANKS FOR COMING “Going Places 2022 (Going Without You)“ EP | THOU, MIZMOR, & EMMA RUTH RUNDLE “Night” (Zola Jesus cover) | TOMBERLIN “Sunstruck” | TRAAMS “The Light at Night” (feat. Joe Casey) | VINTAGE CROP “The Duke” | WILLIAM BASINSKI & JANEK SCHAEFER “ . . . on reflection (three)”