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.

ALIEN NOSEJOB | “Split Personality”

It’s been about nine months since we were graced with Alien Nosejob’s triumphant Stained Glass, so naturally Jake Robertson is back with his next record and his next evolution in sound. Since the start of his solo project in 2017, he’s been shifting between genres, maneuvering through lo-fi disco, hardcore, jangly punk, and sleazy rock ‘n’ roll, each done with radiant sincerity, scratching whatever itch may arise. The upcoming album (out October 27th via Anti Fade / Goner Records), brilliantly titled The Derivative Sounds of... Or... A Dog Always Returns to its Vomit, places Alien Nosejob firmly in the world of 60’s garage pop, channeling Robertson’s recent experience with his reunited band, The Frowning Clouds. Alien Nosejob manages to pay homage to the sound on “Split Personality” while capturing the essence of his sound, direct and willingly snotty, puffed up and rattling with a raw swagger.

AOIFE NESSA FRANCES | “Fantasy”

Over time we’ve come to release that Aoife Nessa Frances released one of last year’s best album with Protector. In the months since, the Dublin based songwriter has continued to released new singles, first with March’s great “Automatic Love” and now with her latest, “Fantasy”. The song slinks with a dream pop aura, twinkling and sparkling under Frances’ silky voice. As the chiming intro leads itself into a deep and fixated rhythm, lurking just behind the beat, the majestic touches swirl all around. Aoife Nessa Frances encompasses a world beyond our reality, a fantasy that’s all too inviting, with sweeping strings, sliding keys, and a general swell of good feelings. Her voice doesn’t need to do any heavy lifting and yet it does, eventually rising over the orchestration to lock us into her words before pulling back into the gorgeous mix yet again.

CHAIN WHIP | “Call of the Knife”

Vancouver’s Chain Whip have had their hands firmly on the ignition for the past five years or so and it seems they’re ready to combust. Set to release their second full length, Call of the Knife, on Neon Taste (Iron Warning, Headcheese, Extensive Slaughter) and Drunken Sailor Records (The Prize, CLASS, The Hell), the lead single and title track is as bombastic and unnerved as anything we’ve heard from the quartet, a brute swagger of puffed up garage punk and hardcore, played at maximum speed. The garbled vocals bellow like a stampede ripping through your favorite dive bar, the watering hole turned upside down with a manic depravity. There’s a sense of unhinged recklessness that comes squawked in the deranged vocal performance, but the band are playing it tight, every riff peeling in perfect time as the savage tempo contorts the band’s greasy rock 'n’ roll onslaught.

I’M INTO LIFE RECORDS | “#1” LP

I’m Into Life Records, the Los Angeles based label seems to be expanding its operations, which now would appear to include a presence in Kingston, NY, the venerable home of Tubby’s. On the label’s latest compilation, they’ve comprised a collection of songs from some of the most exciting punk and punk adjacent bands in the country, including the label’s own Open Head, Kingston heroes Rider/Horse, and the mutant art-punk explorations of RONG, among others. Making up the bulk of the release, these three bands are quick to prove why they’re among the most forward thinking punk bands, subverting our reality in favor disorienting chaos (and intrinsic control). RONG brings us along a rollercoaster ride already in progress, while Open Head opt for detached grooves and darting riffs. There’s also a few live tracks and a fractured post-punk bedroom-pop song from Jolee Gordon’s Queen Crony, a song delightfully weird but undeniably hooky.

L’RAIN | “Pet Rock”

Following the sweeping success of 2021’s Fatigue, an album that garnered unanimous well-deserved praise for it’s patchwork art-pop and experimental R&B textures, L’Rain seems determined to keep her sound evolving, pushing her art into new territory. With that comes I Killed Your Dog, a new album that seems to embrace a more structured song-writing sense, but Taja Cheek hasn’t lost her touch in the slightest. “Pet Rock” is, in base terms, a psych pop song, tinged with elements of prog and dream pop, morphing it’s shape and putting on a kaleidoscopic show. The composition itself glows with a fuzzy production, a dazzling rhythm section (seriously, give the drummer some), and guitars that warped into alien form. Cheek’s voice sounds magnificent all the while, manuevering between the lush psych warble with a drifting airiness.

LOWER PLENTY | “Back To The Foldout”

I was not expecting the return of Lower Plenty, but I sure am grateful for it. It’s been seven years since the Melbourne based quartet released the exceptional Sister Sister, but the members haven’t exactly been twiddling their thumbs. They’ve kept busy with projects like Terry, Sleeper & Snake, Total Control, UV Race, Deaf Wish, Hot Tubs Time Machine, and somehow that’s still only scratching the surface. When together however, Lower Plenty have an instantly engaging spark, mixing their brand of earnest folk, power-pop, and slacker punk to create something accessible but intricately crafted. No Poets, out in October, opens with the layered acoustic and syrupy melodies of “Back To The Foldout,” a song that finds the band in fine form, closely harmonizing and jangling in equal measure. Lower Plenty have a knack for moving apart while staying in unison, the resulting effort creating a magical surrealist folk sound, one that’s lively and literate. I can’t wait to hear the rest of this album (and hopefully some songs with Sarah Heyward on lead vocals).

MARNIE STERN | “Plain Speak”

We’re as happy as a clam about the return of Marnie Stern, a certifiable national treasure. We all know she’s among the best guitar shredders of our generation, but what really separates her from the pack is the resounding personality of her music, the animated sense of joy that comes from her mind-melting sense of playing. With a ten year gap in her recorded output (while she raised kids and played nightly on Seth Meyer’s late night band), it could have been anyone’s guess as to what her new music would sound like, and we’re thrilled to say that her new album, The Comeback Kid, sounds triumphantly like Marnie Stern, sugary math-pop shredding and all. “Plain Speak” kicks off the record with a detached riff and skittering melodies, the entire thing unglued from the seams as she returns with “I can’t keep from moving backwards”. In the case of the one and only Marnie Stern, sometimes that ain’t a bad thing.

PILE | “Scaling Walls”

It would safe to call Pile’s most recent album, All Fiction, one of the year’s more ambitious records, an album that forgoes playing it safe in favor pf pushing their framework somewhere new. The Boston based trio pulled off the feet with nuance and grace, retaining their sound while leaving their sound, reshaping the elements to create something lush and immersive, with abrasion present, but downplayed for texture and immaculate songwriting maximalism. While recording, the band wound up with a bounty of songs too great for a single LP, opting instead to pick the one’s that stood best on their own to release at a later date (something the band have excelled at for a very long time, case in point, Big Web). One of those songs was “Scaling Walls,” a song with a rolling drum beat and a fractured melody, a brilliant progression that straddles the line between detached post-hardcore (think Blonde Redhead) and tension building art rock landscapes. The song evolves from start to finish, thudding and clawing between dreamy escapes and tangled mental gymnastics.

PREWN | “Through The Window” LP

There’s something so very profound to Prewn’s debut album, Through The Window, and it all swarms around Izzy Hagerup’s songwriting, her distinct choices, her powerful vocals, and the rawness of her performance. Written and recorded over fits and starts over the years and eventually completed at Marcata Recording, every element of this album feels supported by the next, one decision that makes sense of the next, all the while leaving a trail of goosebumps from song to song. For the past months I’ve been trying to think of comparisons, and I can really only make them in “essence” and less in sound. Prewn’s debut feels fully realized, a blend of chaotic folk, delivered with shaky resolve yet utter confidence on ruptured ground that isn’t afraid to tear apart at the seams. There’s a sense of control to Hagerup’s voice and her words, tumbling through the world with a fixation that nothing truly matters, viewed like a bystander in a vivid fever dream of a corrupt world that isn’t too far from reality.

THIS IS LORELEI | “EP #33”

Since it’s earliest days, This Is Lorelei, the solo project of Nate Amos (Water From Your Eyes, My Idea) has been built on constant change. The exploration over the years has expanded into every corner of of Amos’ musical mind, from prog and acidic experimental jazz to mutant power-pop and radio friendly dream pop. The project sort of serves as a recorded time capsule of Amos’ current interests beyond WFYE and it’s a pleasure to watch the evolution unfold piece by piece. EP #33 may be our favorite This Is Lorelei release in a while, four tracks that favor traditional AM gold songwriting and nuanced folk music, From the bouncy and exuberant front-porch soul of “Dollars In The Dark” to the melancholic lull of “Hollered That Cry On The Pasture,” Amos continues to prove himself of a top tier songwriter, capable of pulling mood and emotion together into something that retains light, captivating with both his lyrics and sparse arrangements.

Further Listening:

August 21 - August 27:

august 28 - september 03:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (August 21st - September 3rd)