by Benji Heywood, Dan Goldin, Patrick Pilch, and Zak Mercado
Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, our 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. 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.
HORSEGIRL
“Switch Over”
The three songs released ahead of Horsegirl’s new record Phonetics On and On sees the three piece push forward with their excellent two-hander compositions. Their songs sound like they’ve got a rainbow popsicle in one hand and a Rubik’s cube in the other, musically speaking, of course. They could be set on a rainy spring day or, maybe, under the full-blaring sunlight on the estival solstice. “Switch Over” is the latest of the batch. The lyrics: arty, cyclical, and their delivery drives some of the rhythm of the track. The production, overall, sounds full, satisfying. It’s twee without the naivety. It’s conscious, quasi-geometric. Music is math, in some ways, after all. The first listen to this track, as well as the others, gives the impression that they’re forging ahead with something novel, their own niche. Not too geometric. It’s accessible and a bit light. It feels like this record will be one of the first obligatory listens of the nascent 2025. - Zak Mercado
PORRIDGE RADIO
“Don’t Want To Dance”
It was always unsustainable; Porridge Radio’s torrid run of albums has seemingly come to an end. This week the Brighton band announced their imminent breakup with the release of a new single, “Don’t Want To Dance.” The song is a pensive ballad anchored by acoustic guitar and Dana Margolin’s unmistakable voice which sits somewhere between punk rock and last call. Taken from the band’s final release, The Machine Starts to Sing, “Don’t Want To Dance” stands as a mournful coda to a band that never quite got the attention it deserved. They may have been around for nearly a decade, but still, it feels like it went by in a blink. I wonder if they feel the same way. - Benji Heywood
YOUBET
“Deny”
Nick Llobet is youbet, one of the best pop songwriters in New York. They’re currently on the road with This is Lorelei, and their latest single was written in the wake of supporting Mary Timony. “Deny” arrives hot off the heels of last year’s Way To Be and represents “a bridge” between the old youbet and the new. There’s a heavier energy here, as the band swap nylon for electric, leaning into the influences they had listened to on Timony-tour. Polvo, Autolux, and Boris are name-dropped in the liner notes, but “Deny” is unmistakably youbet. Their melancholic progressions are cranked, but the fuzz is spliced with youbet’s signature bright and bubbly, sinister acoustic moments. - Patrick Pilch
Quick Hits:
DELIVERY
“Deadlines”
Melbourne’s Delivery released their second full length album, Force Majeure, a feverishly great post-punk record that sharpens the hooks. Radiantly catchy yet dense and contorted, the record plays the band’s eclectic line-up, pulling from the best each member has to offer. “Deadlines” is among the highlights, a tornado of charming post-punk with gluey vocals and an elastic sense of muscle. - DG
MEAT WAVE
“Voicemail”
Three years after the impecable Malign Hex, Chicago’s Meat Wave return with a new two song single, Voicemail / Dehydrated. The a-side is a blistering ripper, a true to form dose of stampeding adrenaline and caustic post-hardcore dissonance. There are few that can deliver a thudding onslaught quiet like Meat Wave do, and the incessant nature of “Voicemail” barrels forward like an oncoming avalanche. - DG
MESS ESQUE
“Take Me To Your Infinite Garden”
Mess Esque, the duo of Helen Franzmann (McKisko) and Mick Turner (Dirty Three) are set to release Jay Marie, Comfort Me, their second full length album in March via Drag City, and lead single “Take Me To Your Infinite Garden” is as stunning a song as we’ve heard so far this year. A mix of gritty minimalism, distorted folk, and psychedelic drift, there’s a literal buzz to the progression, an electric surge that propels the art rock dissonance headfirst into the song’s undeniable beauty. - DG
MONDE UFO
“119”
Set to release Flamingo Tower in March, Monde UFO’s latest single, “119,” has the rare ability to feel utterly chaotic and simultaneously at peace with itself. It’s an incredible feat to pull off, but the band bring a sense of brilliant grace to a dazzling and frantic rhythm, the razor sharp pulse running hyperspace circles around the detached jazz of the offkilter track. Zone in while zoning out. - DG
Further Listening:
CALIFONE “Every Amnesia Movie" | CARNATIONS “Bully” | THE CONVENIENCE "I Got Exactly What I Wanted" | DEAD GOWNS "Swimmer / Wet Dog" | ELIZA NIEMI "Do U FM" | FISH NARC "Boxy Volvo" | FLORIST "Have Heaven" | FUCKED UP "Disabuse" | GLOIN "Controlfreak69" | HEALING "Demo" EP | IGGY POP "Modern Day Ripoff (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023)” | INGROWN "Bullet" | INTERMISSION "New Fire" | LIGHTNING BUG "Feast (Demo)" | LOTS OF HANDS "Barnyard" | MIKE “Bear Trap” | MOREISH IDOLS "Dream Pixel" | MOTHERHOOD "Sunk" | NEIL YOUNG & THE CHROME HEARTS “Big Change“ | OPEN HEAD "Fiends Don't Lose" | POPULATION II "Le thé est prêt" | REDMAN "Booyaka Shot" | RICHARD DAWSON "Gondola" | SHRAPNEL "Bugged Anatomy" | SPLEEN "II" EP | SQUANDERERS “Theme for Contrails” | SWERVEDRIVER "Volume Control" | TUNIC "Eyes Crossed Out" | VUNDABAR "Spades" | THE WEATHER STATION "Mirror"