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.

ALDOUS HARDING & JOHN PARISH | “Three Hours” (Nick Drake cover)

The Endless Coloured Ways, a new Nick Drake covers album, emerges with modern interpretations of his timeless songwriting. These songs have been covered before and they’ll be covered again, a testament to Drake’s all too short catalog and the impact it left on so many. The double LP tribute features Liz Phair, Philip Selway, Mike Lindsay, Skullcrusher & Gia Margaret, Famous Blue Cable & Fiest, among others, pairing together both solo covers and collaborations. The most welcome pairing might be Aldous Harding and John Parish, a combination that makes a good deal of sense when you consider Parish’s longterm musical partnership with PJ Harvey and the way they complement each other. The duo offer a unique angle on Drake’s “Three Hours,” replacing the bluesy acoustic twang of the original with a motorik blast of krautrock immediacy. The unflinching rhythm and ominous arrangement allows their harmonized vocals to sit front and center, the voices sweet and gentle as they create a mysterious cool within the song’s patient lyrics.

ELECTRIC CHAIR | “Beat Session Vol 11”

Shout Recordings’ “Beat Sessions” series is one of the best living archives of modern punk, an essential collection of live-in-the-studio recordings that always seems to capture primal intensity without sacrificing any clarity. Over the past year we’ve praised both recent sessions from Public Acid and Gen Pop, and we’re equally enamored with the latest addition to the series, none other than Olympia’s Electric Chair. Fresh off the release of the dense and chaotic psychedelic hardcore of their Act of Aggression LP, the band sort of peel back the impenetrable carnage of that record’s mix in the live setting, opting instead for relentless brutality and stampeding energy that sounds relatively “cleaner” (but only by comparison). The band shred through songs from their past few releases, spiraling into raw pounding rhythms, blistering tempos, and violently slashed riffs. Despite the rampage, every element is captured with perfection, giving the carnage ample space within the density as the band tear through seven abrasive hardcore songs in nine violently delightful minutes.

GORGEOUS | “Elbow Stress Rash”

Brooklyn duo Gorgeous are set to release their second album, Sapsucker, next week via Sad Cactus Records (Powerwasher, Mothpuppy, EIEIEIO), expanding upon the jerky compositions of their debut and their minimalist complexities. Dana Lipperman (guitar/vocals) and Judd Anderman (drums) have played countless shows in the years since they shared Egg and it shows throughout their latest, with carefully crafted dynamic peaks and dips that feel fine tuned from live performances. Following the release of “Raindrop,” the band are sharing “Elbow Stress Rash,” a jagged art-punk song that’s far more inviting than its title. Gorgeous tangle this one into triple knots, treating the progression like silly putty as they stretch and warp without losing their sense of melody, darting between a dizzying attack and a surreal disorientation that comes from the juxtaposed calm. Sometimes the only way to deal with stress is dive deeper into the anxiety amid unglued abandon.

GUIDED BY VOICES | “Seedling”

I’m sure there are those who roll their eyes when they hear about new Guided By Voices albums and the frequency at which they are released. There are those that are fine to stick with the band’s 90’s classics and genre staples. For anyone who has been tuned out though, you’re missing out. Robert Pollard and co. have been on a truly inspired run over the past few years, moving beyond the preconceived GBV template and pushing into new directions. The results have been pretty great, and the further they’ve strayed the more engaging the releases have been. While some of us all still entrenched in last year’s efforts and January’s La La Land, GBV have moved on, ready to share Welshpool Frillies, their first new album recorded together in-person since the pandemic. While the many releases they made apart didn’t lack a “live” sound, “Seedling” certainly feels like the band are back kicking up dust, careening through an insistent progression and layered with plenty of earthquaking guitars, boisterous and buoyant in that special GBV way.

LANDOWNER | “Witch Museum”

No one does jittery post-punk quite as tightly as Holyoke, MA’s Landowner. Their songs feel like contents under pressure… always ready to explode yet in their case, it never does. Set to release their third album, Escape The Compound, this July via Born Yesterday Records (Stuck, Neckbolt, Glow In The Dark Flowers), it feels as though the expanse of their structures has been compressed yet again, so tightly coiled it feels alien in its manic groove. The band are running in circles at full speed, and the results are brilliant. Dan Shaw’s (vocals) lyrics always give you that “smartest guy in the room” feeling once decoded, as he pokes and prods at “civilized society’s” lesser qualities. “Witch Museum” takes aim at the sordid elements of Massachusetts history and the smiling faces covering over revolting actions. The narrative shifts perspective (much like the micro-nuanced shifts in the progression), and the stench of evil seems to envelope all of the glad-handed “honors” of the community.

MELENAS | “Bang”

Set to release their third album Ahora in September via Trouble In Mind Records (Guardian Singles, FACS, Martin Frawley), Pamplona, Spain’s Melenas return with a bang, quite literally. After catching global attention with 2000’s Dias Raros and it’s impeccably fuzzy indie pop exuberance, the band have traded in their guitars for synths, but their songwriting magic remains well in tact. The krautpop pulse of “Bang” is infectious, built on a rhythmic loop and quick hooks at every turn. We can’t stop listening and only love the song more with every repeated play. There’s still a sense of garage pop energy to it, but the rattle has been smoothed into an electronic pulse, with warm shimmering synths leading toward a soft melody. Lyrically the song is about saying no and the freedom that comes with that, realizing that tuning out unwanted noise can be a gift. It’s sort of an update on the “i’m rubber and you’re glue” sentiment, only more expressive and way catchier.

RADIATOR HOSPITAL | “Can’t Make Any Promises” LP

The great André 3000 once said “baby boy, you're only funky as your last cut,” a merit worth thinking about in terms of longevity, a band is really only as great as their latest work. You want to see your favorite artists progressing, each new album should be their finest. Thirteen years after their first cassette, Philadelphia’s Radiator Hospital has made what feels like a DIY masterpiece, the triumphant Can’t Make Any Promises. The band capture what made their earlier albums so beloved and they expand on it with a real sense of sonic focus and deeply woven melodies, so entranced that while many of the hooks “pop” from the speakers, others are content to worm their way into your subconscious. It feels like “home,” it feels like a reminder of everything we love about basement/practice space recordings, slacker fuzz, and earnest songwriting. Dipping between blankets of warbling atmosphere and songs that snap with a fiery warmth, Radiator Hospital have balanced the record with constant nuance, a muscular yet serene landscape for Sam Cook-Parrott’s down-trodden but relatable lyrics.

STUCK | “Freak Frequency” LP

Freak Frequency, the second full length from Chicago’s Stuck, feels like a classic in the making, distilling the anxiety and paranoia of our digital age culture into vibrant post-punk. They trade between the aggression of noise rock and the finesse of art rock, pulling us in one direction and snapping back the next, but nothing is by happenstance. Stuck have worked hard to throw everyone off their axis, guitars oscillating between stabbing punk and tangled sludge, rhythms that expand and collapse without warning, the heavy sociopolitical dread, it all cements Stuck in a lane their own. Freak Frequency feels calculated, designed with furious sarcasm and indignation, but the band are also loosening their grip, opting to twitch and yelp with the occasional deranged sense of animation. It’s in these moments, the entire band convulsing in unison where we’re given deeper glimpses into the personalities at the core of Stuck’s sound. There’s a constant highlight of strengths both lyrically and musically, each song bouncing between an intelligent scorn and a brash resolve of tension. Stuck are one of the most exciting new bands on the planet, existing between genres while improving on all of them in the process. Freak Frequency is the proof in the pudding.

TEMPS | “Party Gator Purgatory” LP

The story of how Temps came to be is too long for this feature, but the group’s bio is definitely worth a read. Spearheaded by English comedian James Acaster, the project came together as another project fizzled out, and a once in progress mockumentary became a record, a multi-genre hybrid that’s nothing less than stunning. Produced by Acaster (who handled the album’s drums together with Seb Rochford), he poured through his rolodex to bring together some of modern music’s best minds and habitual genre-adverse artists including Quelle Chris, NNAMDÏ, Mal Devisa, Denmark Vessey, Deerhoof’s Satomi Matsuzaki and John Dieterich, Xenia Rubinos, Open Mike Eagle, Shamir, and that’s only scratching the surface. Rather than a one and done verse approach, the artists revolve throughout the record, making multiple appearances as the expansive songs call for it, leaving a blueprint that defies any logic in favor of artistic freedom. This is alternative hip-hop, jazz, and experimental indie design without a map, and the entire thing is legitimately intriguing.

ZELMA STONE | “Be The One”

There’s a deliberate ease and delicate nature to Zelma Stone’s latest single “Be The One,” a song she wrote to calm her nerves, to embrace love, and to feel comfort in her choices. As Chloe Zelma Studebaker uprooted from San Francisco to Los Angeles it came as a big change, the type that leaves one to wonder if they’ve made the right decision. “Be The One” is sort of the answer, a song written in spontaneity after appearing to Studebaker in a dream, brought to life immediately upon waking. The song and its natural occurrence n turn became a mantra, a reminder that we’re all “ready for love,” wherever we may be. Like much of Zelma Stone’s best work the song has a slow build that originates in singer/songwriter introspective simplicity and expands upon a subtle folk twang, blossoming in real time as the structure opens and the composition adapts to its grand ambition.

Further Listening:

may 15 - may 21:

May 22 - May 28:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (May 15th - May 28th)