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.

BAD HISTORY MONTH | “Over The Hills”

Since the early days of Fat History Month and in turn Bad History Month, there’s always been a great balance between Sean Sprecher’s expansive long-form introspective tales and the lighter side of his output, shorter songs with a lively nature. It’s the yin and yang of his philosophical make-up, immense gravity must be met with levity. True Delusion, Bad History Month’s upcoming EP pulls from the brighter tones of his music, a collection of song’s that continues to prove why those in the know consider him a once in a lifetime songwriter. Due out July 7th via Julia’s War and Blight. Records, the EP feels breezy, recorded off the cuff and without pressure. “Over The Hills,” the EP’s first single features a radiant melody, trickling with closely paired fuzzy distortion and a barrage of drums captured with a lo-fi din. It sounds fantastically at ease, the perfect framework for Sprecher’s warm and inviting vocals, as he reflects on life and the unpredictable nature of what lies ahead.

BLONDE REDHEAD | “Snowman”

Patience is a virtue and we’re glad that thirty years removed from their inception, Blonde Redhead are still making records. Sit Down For Dinner is the band’s first new full length in nine years, and it’s a return we’ve been patiently awaiting. The record’s lead single comes in the form of “Snowman,” a song that pulls from some of the band’s trademarks while incorporating its fair share of fresh nuances at the same time. Upon first listen, I wasn’t sure what to make of the song. This is a good thing. More often than not, the best music makes you work, captivating you to listen over and over again until it “clicks”. By the fifth or sixth time you’ve played “Snowman,” obsession looms. The vocal melodies, which feel more polished than previous efforts, wrap themselves between the slinking simplicity of the chord progression, while the rhythms, which often channel a Brazilian feel, opt to glide and dazzle. Its quintessential Blonde Redhead at its core, a band who have built their career on increasingly rewarding music, so listen to repeat.

GELD | “Success”

For Melbourne’s GELD, the sound of “Success” is something like having your head ripped off by some maniac after being attacked by skull-crushing hawks, just prior to being thrown down a flight of stairs. At least that’s the atmosphere their latest single offers, it’s an onslaught… and dear reader, it’s amazing. With their third album, Currency // Castration, due out later this week via Relapse Records (YOB, Outer Heaven, Poison Ruïn), the band would seem to be foaming at the mouth as they decimate notions of “success,” opting for an avalanche of unfiltered riffs, explosive solos, nuanced shifts in tempo, and a resolution that leaves us deep in the psychedelic ooze. Primal and untamed, the song comes pounding in on a sea of feedback and blast beats, but GELD aren’t your average hardcore band and they’re more than adept to shift the ferocity at its peak, running full speed into mutant grooves and reckless shredding.

LYSOL | “Down The Street“ EP

Seattle’s LYSOL return two years after their brilliant Soup For My Family LP with a new tour cassette, Down The Street, released in time for their upcoming Pacific Northwest and East Coast shows. There’s a real clamor to the four songs, snarling and pissed with a street punk boogie and an aggressive garage fury. This thing moves and shakes, punk that skirts the edges of hardcore, but opts to reside within its own sort of good natured filth. The entire EP, recorded to a trusty Tascam Portastudio 424, sounds like a basement show, the drums crashing over the guitars with melodies so faint they become nearly imperceptible, but the mix feels raw and alive. It’s one of those “just hit record and let it fucking rip” kind of situations, which works perfectly for the reckless charms of LYSOL. There’s big riffs buried under the crackle of the tape, but it’s the swaggering garage punk discordance and general sense of the disorderly conduct that make this such a great listen.

PALEHOUND | “My Evil”

Palehound are making peace with their evil side, not in sound but in sentiment. El Kempner and co. haven’t embraced death metal or anything like that, but the “evil” explored on “My Evil” is in the personal sense, those times when we’re less than our best selves. On the second single from Palehound’s upcoming album, Eye On The Bat, out July 14th via Polyvinyl, Kempner sings of evil as though it were a shadow, always there, even under mundane circumstances. They’re learning to understand the darker sides of their personality, and being conscious of our less than perfect traits are often the first step toward betterment, fixing the things we can. The Richard Orofino & Kemper directed video is a near shot for shot recreation of The Sopranos’ theme song, which plays into both the world’s undying love for the show and the song’s themes of living with the evil that resides inside us.

SHADY BUG | “Zero Expectations”

You really have to love it when Shady Bug dig into shoegaze territory. There are so many things to marvel at within the relatively short run time of “zero expectations,” but the wonky as all hell guitars of Hannah Rainey and Ripple have to be the most immediate. The St. Louis quartet are set to release What’s The Use? later this month via Exploding In Sound and the EP’s opener is a sea of noise pop chaos, the guitars ringing and warped, pulled in opposing directions, setting a haze before Rainey’s sweet vocals attempt to make something pretty from the carnage. From the great opening line of “I had zero expectations, zero, and some were bad,” her lyrics play out like a fantastic dump of anxiety, lamenting sidewalks and oceans full of trash, the rising temperatures, and taking the time to poke fun at entitled musicians who “did everything I was supposed to do”.

WIREHEADS | “Killer Bee”

After sharing the pulsating motorik glory of “Hook Echo,” Adelaide’s Wireheads opt to swing in the opposite direction with the next preview from Potentially Venus. With the album due out June 23rd via Tenth Court (The Sprouts, Spice World, Ostraaly), the minor chord drip and molasses drawl of “Killer Bee” is slow and sticky, a perfectly laconic song. We know the band glisten over swarming hooks and post-punk urgency, but Wireheads contain multitudes, damnit. “Killer Bee” sounds syrupy, the melody stretched like taffy, forgoing traditional hooks for periodic breaks in the verses designed to let the lyrics process. With closely woven harmonies, a well placed moment of weird and wavering dissonance, and an almost surfy noir psychedelic country atmosphere, the band prove equally adept to stroll through astute observations as they are at unremitting tempos.

Further Listening:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (May 29th - June 4th)