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.

BLESSED | “Felt”

With the announcement of Blessed’s upcoming US and Canada tour dates, the band are sharing “Felt,” a b-side from last year’s Circuitous sessions. While that album was patient and deliberate in a way that could be described as “mature,” it’s easy to see how “Felt” didn’t quite fit that mold, but we’re all the luckier for its existence. The Vancouver based band has always been regarded as a must-see live act, the type you watch and think “holy shit, did they just do that,” and “Felt” is that sentiment distilled into a song. It’s bouncing off the walls, a sonic overload that spikes and darts in all directions, a bonkers survey of Blessed at their most knotted. Which is all to say it’s glorious. Blessed can play the hell out of a song like this, and play the hell out of it they do. This song is sheer intensity and wonky grooves, a wild ride where every member gets their own time to shine in the clattering of it all. Go see them on tour.

BRAIN BENT | “Boilerplate”

A year removed from their last single, Calgary’s Brain Bent return with Boilerplate, a taut new two song 7” overloaded with personality and impeccably tight punk. Delivered with cartoonish sarcasm that dips into the absurdity of corporate culture, the band sound delightfully perverse on “Quality Assurance Audit” as they sing, “we love this job” to the response of “and we love you,” over a progressively more sinister stream of detuned guitars. The song takes many shapes, from the robotic and blistering introduction to the explosive hook and the ultra sardonic vocal performance, howling and charming in equal measure with a smirk plastered firmly in place. The song weaves through constantly changing riffs and rhythms, wrapping itself in tangled moments and squirming into the next. “Cog In The Grind” is a different take for the band, strutting with a puffed up swagger before it eventually bends its way into tightly coiled circles and back again. Brain Bent are following threads and watching them unravel, the starting point and ending point are of little concern.

DELIVERY & WORKHORSE | “Who Makes Demands?”

Everyone loves a good team-up, especially one that seems, on the surface, to be an unlikely one. Last year saw both Melbourne’s Delivery and Adelaide’s Workhorse release their triumphant full length debuts. Delivery’s Forever Giving Handshakes was full of bent post-punk hits with swarming hooks and a knack for bombastic pop melodicism while Workhorse’s No Photographs tends to skew closer to gentle folk and expansive alt-country breeziness. “Who Makes Demands?” pairs the projects together in celebration of Meadow 2023, the Victorian Surf Coast Festival, adding yet another layer to both band’s respective sounds. Workhorse’s Harriet Fraser-Barbour adds a focused twang to Delivery’s otherwise punchy jangle, layering in slide guitar that compliments the sharpened approach with a sense of ease. With gorgeous vocals split between members, clever themes, an insistent rhythm, and melodies torn between tranquility and urgency, Delivery and Workhorse come together with splendid cohesion.

HYPERDONTIA | “Deranged” EP

The evil lurks deep within Hyperdontia’s music, a band committed to the essence of old school death metal but unafraid of pushing it forward. Despite being split between Denmark and Turkey with members involved in countless other projects, Hyperdontia remain prolific (especially in the world of death metal), ripping from one devastating release to the next, dismembering and rebuilding the brutality of the genre amid a cavalcade of grotesque riffs and a seismic low end. Deranged, the band’s latest EP (out via Dark Descent and Me Saco Un Ojo) is overloaded with carnage, scrambling a near twenty minutes into an oozing scourge of technically complex rhythms, guttural vocals, dynamic structures, and artistic shifts, heavy on filth, but nimble in a way that few death metal bands can achieve. There are shredding guitar solos, brief drum solos, and even more… the ever rare bass solo, and the whole thing just sort of freaks it with eternal devastation. Hyperdontia continue to be a gem, risen above the festering remains.

LISA/LIZA | “Held Together”

When the days begin to run you ragged and stress feels unavoidable, you can always turn to the music of Liza Victoria aka Lisa/Liza for an escape parts gentle, understanding, and beautiful. Listening to the Portland, Maine singer/songwriter’s music is an instant salve, alleviating all worries with minimalist folk and warmly psychedelic Americana songs. Set to release her new album Breaking And Mending via Orindal Records on April 28th, it’s an album that feels one with nature, a record that shines like the sun cutting through the tallest of trees, soft and reflective, like the ripples of a stone skipping through a pond. Lead single “Held Together” reads like a personal recollection, a letter to self, a gentle reminder to stay afloat even as things are tough. There’s a whole world out there, changing seasons, growth and bloom, and feelings that will eventually come and go. The soft acoustic guitar is played with undeniable emotion, with strums alternating between gentle touches and more immediate finger picking.

POISON RUÏN | “Resurrection II”

Punk for the metal heads? Dungeon metal for the hardcore crowd? It truly doesn’t matter, as long as we all recognize that Poison Ruïn are kicking up the dust of stale music complacency with furious riffs and unbelievably dense dissonance. The Philadelphia quartet, often compared to a modern day Wipers, are making working class punk with a nod to medieval times. This isn’t about royalty or dragons though, this is for the people toiling away, those of us awaiting an uprising, ready for upheaval. After their already classic debut LP (which paired together their first two EPs), the band are set to release Härvest with Relapse Records next month, a record that stretches out the confines of their sound. “Resurrection II,” a song about knights rising from the dead like chainmail zombies, leans toward the more experimental side of their music, with a sun burnt growl meets croon of sweeping vocal disdain chanting cantations over the slashing of impenetrable guitars and crusty rhythmic pummeling.

PROTOMARTYR | “Make Way”

The general disposition that surrounds Protomartyr is written in shades of gray, we’ve been lead to believe the sun in a myth. For over a decade we’ve delved in their world, a bleak one that often captures humanity at its lowest points, it’s an exploration of depths, both personal and political, and no one does it quite like them. Set to return with a new record, Formal Growth In The Desert, due out in June via Domino, it’s safe to say the past few years haven’t done anything to brighten their mood, which means it’s ripe time for Protomartyr to deliver. “Make Way,” the record’s lead single finds itself entranced in loss, dealing head-on with death, and the seemingly impossible task of moving forward after great personal loss. As always, Protomartyr exhibit emotion in jagged bursts of tension,, setting a stark atmosphere and obliterating all serenity with fervent outbursts. The textures are radiant even under a blanket of dim arid depression. Protomartyr prove yet again to be a master of their craft.

STATIK SELEKTAH | “Unpredictable” (feat. Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, & Method Man)

The glory days of hip-hop’s “boom-bap” era have had a resurgence over the past five years or so, but for many loyal fans of the early 90’s blueprint, it never went away. Statik Selektah has always done his part to carry the torch, a producer that pays homage to the DJ Premier framework, chopping and cutting samples to reshape beats. He’s long worked with a stable of legends from Redman, Jadakiss, and Black Thought, to Bun B, Action Bronson, Freddie Gibbs and Freeway. The list goes on and on. He hardly needs an introduction. With his tenth album, Round Trip, due out this summer, the first single arrives with the Wu-Tang killa bee generals themselves, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and Method Man. A testament to their longevity and the art of true MCing, the four veterans attack the beat devoid of hooks or ad-libs, flowing from verse to verse. Kicked off as usual by the Rebel INS, he upholds his reputation for consistently stealing the show and setting the tone with effortless cool. All four Wu-Tang legends sound hungry, rapping with a vigor that reminds you why, decade after decade, they remain the heart of the Wu.

WASTE MAN | “Waste Man“ EP

We love the hodgepodge of punk that makes up Waste Man’s DNA, a bit of hardcore, a bit of SST era rawness, and a bit of noise rock, all formed together in a way that truly feels unique. Both of the band’s full length records bring an unstable and corrosive energy to a party already in progress. It’s wild and reckless, but the band seem to be having a damn good time in the process. The New Orleans based band recently moved to NYC, trading the Big Easy for the claustrophobic and sleazy. With the band settled in their new home, they’ve shared a new self-titled EP (out via Feel It Records), a short but impactful reminder that the band can wiggle as well as they can thrash. Heavy and abrasive, Waste Man fuel their chaotic energy into songs that feel oddly blissful, tearing the paint from the walls as if the building is about to crumble anyway. The EP splits their time between two immediate punk burners and an expansive noise rock jam that feels tangled between In Utero era Nirvana and the psychedelic density of Cherubs. Welcome to New York, time to get weird.

ZORN | “Zorn” LP

Philadelphia’s Zorn have opened the gates of hell and nothing can prepare you for the onslaught. The band’s first full length is destruction and insanity personified, distilled into a furious blend of black metal, crusty death metal, and hardcore, all simultaneously emitted at once for putrid chaos. There’s ever wandering riffs, caterwauling solos, blast beats, polyrhythms, and a demonic boogie that runs rampant on their self-titled album (out via Sorry State Records), a pure fusion of excess and sonic vulgarity. As brilliant as it is ugly, this one invades your daydreams and lurks in your nightmares, pulling you ever deeper into the void. With production on the lo-fi end of the metal/hardcore spectrum, the no frills recording is perfect for the rampant ruination of the riffs and the deluge of the spastic drums. This one rips on an entirely different level, unleashed and left to maim. Good fucking grief.

Further Listening:

March 06 - March 12:

March 13 - March 19:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (March 6th - March 19th)