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.

CLASS | “But Who’s Reading Me?” EP

Hailing from the sun-soaked deserts and valleys of Tucson, Arizona, CLASS are rattling out exceptional punk records as though time was running out. Since their debut EP last June, the band have since released their first full length, Epoca de Los Vaqueros, and now the great But Who’s Reading Me?, the quartet’s third release in nine months. We’re late to sing our praise for the ever classy CLASS, but we’ve become enamored with their freewheeling punk ramble over the past few months, drawn into the rock ‘n’ grab bag of their records. At the core is the songwriting, style be damned, they write punk hits that get better with every repeated listen. Their latest, out via Feel It Records (The Drin, Flea Collar, Smirk), captures the band’s ability to maneuver between raw SST punk rippers, twangy power-pop, and garage rock excess. The EP, comprised of four new songs, and two re-worked tracks from Epoca de Los Vaqueros, offers a tight post-punk sheen and sinewy twang on tracks like “No News Could Please” and “Grid Stress,” while aiming for snotty UK punk recklessness on “Burning Cash”. It’s an EP that continues to show the band’s dexterity, and it ROCKS in all caps.

HYPERDONTIA | “Deluded”

In the process of recapping our favorite death metal albums of last year, it became obvious that we were still very much hooked on two releases from 2021, one of which was Hyperdontia’s second album, Hideous Entity (the other being Malignant Altar). It’s not that there wasn’t any great death metal in 2022 (there was), it’s just that Hideous Entity was that good. The riffs were pure evil, spewing with cavernous dread, while the rhythm section decimated all remaining existence. The Danish/Turkish band are set to return in March with Deranged, a new EP (or MLP as the metal world likes to call it), out via Me Saco Un Ojo and Dark Descent Records. “Deluded,” the record’s first single is instantaneously brutal, a non-stop onslaught of razor sharp riffs and some of the most tastefully complex drumming we’ve heard in a while (hats off to Tuna, the band’s drummer). There’s a fine line between “tech-death” and primal death metal that just so happens to be technical, and Hyperdontia manage to stay on the primal side of things, but this one is blistering on all levels, tearing a whole in the fabric of everything that’s ever been held dear and letting the impeccable disgust ooze in.

THE LUNCHTIME SARDINE CLUB | “Satan Lives In Texas”

It’s safe to say that after an eight year absence, the release of The Luchtime Sardine Club’s new EP comes as a surprise to most. No Place, released this past Bandcamp Friday, is a welcome return for Oliver Newton’s (Yndi Halda, Laundromat, Vincent Vocoder Voice) distinctive psychedelic folk project, expanding on their earliest output (the timeless Icecapades LP may be a decade old but we’re still astounded by it). Over the span of three expansive songs, Newtown brings us back into the Club’s world, built on seasick acoustics, sweeping strings, shadowy auras, and nuanced songwriting that never goes where expected. TLS Club lands melodies with hit like the most gentle of uppercuts. Through the use of harmonies, rhythmic shifts, and melodies both beautiful and discordant, the band take a tried and true formula and make it sound exciting, slowly adapting as songs unwind in their own time. “Satan Lives In Texas” is a must hear single, a song that slinks just behind the beat, the laconic melody and duel vocals warbling together with a cool resolve. The feel of the song is astounding, passing between wistful couplets and illuminated hooks. As obscure as TLS Club may be to most, it’s hard to find psych folk this deep in the pocket. The video is just as gorgeous as the song itself, capturing a road trip with what at times feel like a sense of mystery.

SHANA CLEVELAND | “A Ghost”

I don’t know about you, but I have a very hard time “turning off” and letting myself zone out. Meditation and rest become foreign concepts at times when your mind is cycling through all the things you need to do (or at least should be doing). Thankfully, there’s people like Shana Cleveland making music so gorgeous and serene that a feeling of calm is able to take over from time to time. Her upcoming album Manzanita, due out March 10th via Hardly Art, finds the La Luz singer/guitarist lulling us into her brand of angelic folk bliss. Album opener “A Ghost” finds warmth in celestial acoustics and whirring mellotron, patiently swirling its way through the steadily bouncing bass and finger picked strings. It’s a song that Cleveland wrote about the psychedelic nature of pregnancy, and the experience of being outside oneself in the process. The video on the other hand, finds Cleveland as charming and hilarious as ever, pulling pranks on her friends as a ghost because… well, why not. It’s a great video for a great song, with fairly different tones, both a part of what makes Shana Cleveland such a treasure.

TROPICAL FUCK STORM | “1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)” (Jimi Hendrix cover)

It’s safe to say that Tropical Fuck Storm aren’t fucking around with their near eighteen minute long cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be),” the acid fried cornerstone of Submersive Behaviour. While billed as a covers EP, this is one of only two covers among the five tracks, and it’s one done with reverence and heart, far from the usual covers-as-algorithmic-catnip. The band, best known for their immersive noise, fiery lyrics, and radiant harmonies, let the noise take a back seat to expansive drift on a cover that plays close homage to the original but certainly adds the band’s own sonic touches. They roar into the psychedelic space with a bluesy start, picking up the soul of the source material to perfection, colliding into a dense screed of noise bent guitars and a spiraling shuffle of drums. Just as Tropical Fuck Storm bring the song into their own habitat, it takes us right back out, into deeply kaleidoscopic territory, opting for hallucinatory ambiance in place of density. They allow the song to sprawl into the unknown, fusing together atonal shifts and gentle melodies, a meditation gone wonderfully awry.

Further Listening:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (January 30th - February 5th)