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.

BILLY WOODS & KENNY SEGAL | “Maps” LP

In these post-lockdown years, billy woods has been playing catch-up, bringing his live show to every corner of the globe, a seemingly endless tour in support of a plethora of increasingly important records. His life on the road has been on his mind, as visions of “home” fade and he’s left sleepless on planes, in hotels, and at soundchecks. At some point, woods and Kenny Segal resumed their instant chemistry for Maps, and with it, created yet another record that feels destined for hip-hop infamy. It’s a roadtrip set in cavernous venues, lengthy carshare rides, dispensaries, and airport terminals, and despite the weary nature of cyclical travel, billy woods sounds as though he’s having fun. He’s cracking jokes, weaving complex punchlines, making references to goofy metal bands, and tossing out barbs and jabs that come from showing up in a new town and being presented with immediate complications. Sometimes it’s all too much, and woods reflects on those he misses, while he disassociates and travels subconsciously. woods is penning his diary amid the grind, from restless feelings and time elapsed, to delirious humor and the comfort of good weed. [Read our full Album of the Week feature]

GREG ELECTRIC | “The Deal”

Philadelphia’s Greg Electric crackles with a unique energy, one that’s hard to define but easy to become enamored with. The band, led by Rachel Gordon (Nine of Swords), play a radiant blend of post-hardcore, tangled math rock, dense noise rock, and their defining brand of slacker pop, finding the kind of sweet spot that makes them one of those all-too-rare DIY gems. Set to release It’s Been… on June 23rd via BLIGHT. Records, the album serves as their unfortunate farewell as the sun sets on the project. “The Deal” is the lead single, a welcome return that finds the magnetic charm of Gordon’s vocals in full effect. Shifting between near spoken word and syrupy melodic drifts, it’s a rare chance for Greg Electric to eschew their more explosive side, and whether it’s a sign of the record ahead or just a moment of respite, Let’s not get it misconstrued, just because Gordon isn’t opting for blood curdling shouts, there’s still plenty of technical menace to go around with interlocked rhythms and atonal riffs that dart between the neurons in our minds.

GUT HEALTH | “The Recipe”

Last year introduced us to Gut Health, one of our favorite new bands. “The Recipe,” a new single out via Marthouse Records proves that the Melbourne/Naarm sextet are only getting started. Expanding upon their brand of dance-floor chaos with funky bass and psych-punk guitar, they dart between a no wave attack and post-punk disco. Gut Health remain astounding, opening the song with a relative simplicity and ending it tangled in abrasive knots, the structure threatening to collapse. Their music sounds like a amalgamation of The B-52s, early Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a touch of Wire, but it’s an energy all their own that draws you in. With the rhythm, guitars, and synths in tight unity, the rest is up to the magnetic Athena Uh Oh, a dynamic vocalist who bends her melodies with the wonky progressions, howling one moment and hitting syrupy hooks the next. Her presence looms large as things twist and unravel, and with “The Recipe,” she’s exploring the nature between what’s real, what’s performative, and how the lines tend to blur.

LEE FIELDS | “Waiting On The Sidelines”

The great Lee Fields is a national treasure. At this point he’s one of the last standing soul singers of the golden era, and as he proved with last year’s Sentimental Fool, he’s aging like a fine wine. That album, his first full length with Daptone Records could be his best yet, a blend of 60’s soul and funk that’s centered around his yearning voice. Much like Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones, Fields is mining the sounds of his youth, a sound he’s been been adapting for nearly half a century. Sentimental Fool offered him his long deserved flowers, and he’s been tirelessly bringing his pure soul splendor to audiences around the world ever since. With his momentum steadily on the rise, Fields returns with Waiting On The Sidelines, the a-side to a new single due out in June. Penned by Thomas 'TNT' Brenneck (Menahan Street Band, The Budos Band), it’s a heart torn ballad of love passed by, with a gentle reminder that he’ll always be waiting. Fields delivers a magnetic performance, putting every ounce of emotion into the words, “feeling like a king that’s lost his thrown, all because the girl is gone.”

MODERN COSMOLOGY | “What Will You Grow Now?” LP

This one already feels like a hidden gem, destined for cult status. Modern Cosmology, the collaboration between Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) and Brazil’s Mombojó return for their second record, the glorious escapism drift of What Will You Grow Now? Out now via Duophonic Super 45s, the band embrace silky rhythms and pulsating grooves, working between space-age lounge and post-jazz atmospheres. It’s an immersive listen with four of the six songs stretching out past the six minute mark (and the other two not far behind), allowing them room to sink into a trance, with a phenomenal sense of “feel” leading the way, slowly evolving between hazy buzzing synths and a sort of slow dripped acid funk. The end result of it all feels tranquil, a warm hug when you need it most, but serene qualities aside, this record is built with nuance and non-stop ear candy. There’s as much detail in the tonality of their instruments as there is in the delicate nature of Sadier’s voice, the band really balancing their smooth as eggs structures with bleeding synths, shimmering distortion, and a glistening attention to the slightest of details.

PINCH POINTS | “Pave Me”

It’s been five years since the release of Mechanical Injury, Pinch Points’ triumphant debut EP. In celebration of the momentous occasion, the Melbourne/Naarm based quintet are giving the album its first ever vinyl pressing, expanding the set to include “Pave Me,” a song written during the record’s sessions, but never properly recorded… until now. Newly recorded in the same room as the original Mechanical Injury sessions by the current line-up of Pinch Points, it would seem even a much beloved record can still be adapted without diluting the magic of the original. “Pave Me” is taut and ready to snap, built with the astoundingly tight post-punk jitters the band have become known for, with ultra tight rhythms and ever shifting riffs that tangle themselves into knots of kinetic energy. The song takes sarcastic aim at those who’d love to tear down vast reaches of nature in favor of paved streets and sidewalks, the city sprawl slowly moving the natural world into the furthest reaches of the land. It’s so damn good and another reminder why Pinch Points are one of our favorite bands on the planet.

SHADY BUG | “Lizard”

St. Louis DIY heroes Shady Bug are set to return next month with What’s The Use?, a new EP that captures growth through change. Their first new release in four years, the band have gone through adjustments in their line-up but they’ve locked in on what’s important, with Hannah Rainey taking a leadership role in the shape of their sound, developing songs with a new explorative sense of freedom. Recorded together with Alex Molini (Pile, Stove, Philary) at his former Nashville studio, Shady Bug are still juxtaposing sweet pop charms and syrupy hooks with blistering noise, lulling you into their sugary innocence before blowing it all away. The record’s lead single, album closer “lizard,” takes an expansive approach to their warped noise pop sound, a song that thematically represents the sense of renewal in What’s The Use? Conceived as a reflection on shedding your skin following a break-up as you “peel just like a lizard,” it’s a song about making hard choices and moving forward even when it seems impossible. Rainey is reminding us all that in the long run we need to do what is best for our mental state, regardless of repercussion. We’ll grow new skin… just like a lizard.

Further Listening:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (May 1st - May 7th)