by Benji Heywood, Dan Goldin, and Matt Watton
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.
MCLUSKY
“Way of the Exploding Dickhead”
To hell with expectations (*1). mclusky are back with their first new full length in over twenty years, and if one thing is immediately obvious upon listening to it, the trio had fun making this one. the world is still here and so are we, due out May 9th via Ipecac Recordings (Melvins, The Jesus Lizard, Human Impact), feels akin to having your door kicked down only to be hit with a tidal wave of acerbic wit and venomous irreverence, which is to say, mclusky have returned and they’re still playing by their own rules. Dense and dizzying, “Way of the Exploding Dickhead” is like a mantra for the ever multiplying assholes of the world, yet “jerks prefer jerks” doesn’t seem to deal in any falsehoods. As the corrosive riff snakes around an impossibly thick and pounding rhythm, Andrew “Falco” Falkous is nothing if not empathetic, as he reminds us “jerks prefer jerks for sure, but pity their children still, they’ll never know love like us.” - DG
(*1) sincerest of apologies
MOONTYPE
“Long Country”
Moontype’s 2021 debut Bodies of Water was a mesmerizing bright spot during the listlessness of COVID. The band has now signed to Orindal Records and have released a new single “Long Country” (though unannounced, we can assume second LP is on its way). Led by vocalist and bassist Margaret McCarthy, they’ve expanded from trio to four-piece and have doubled down on their commitment to sophisticated, atmospheric alternative. “Long Country” is sonically rich. At the center is McCarthy’s moody, redolent voice, meandering its way to distinctive pitches and intonations. The band is eclectic in its sonic palette, drawing on timbres from jangle pop, country twang, ‘90s rock distortion. The rhythms are unassumingly complex, and the dynamics drive the song from a serene calm to a stormy agitation. Whether a standalone track or harbinger for more, “Long Country” is a welcome release. - Matt Watton
PARTY DOZEN
“The Big Man Upstairs (PD Remix)”
Last year saw the release of Party Dozen’s fourth album, Crime In Australia, a great avant-garde punk album that takes an amorphous approach as they weave between bruising noise punk and jazzy post-punk to twitchy art sludge and in the case of “The Big Man Upstairs,” a unique blend of shoegaze and krautrock. With the duo set to tour North America in March and April (supporting Lambrini Girls on most dates), they’ve released a remix of the aforementioned track, reimagined by none other than… themselves (honestly, we can’t think of anyone better for the job). The remix remains dreamy and blurred at the edges but the beat is given a facelift, opting for a disco groove and a psychedelic lounge aura. Party Dozen are never afraid to take risks, and once again, it works exceptionally well. I can’t wait to see them live again. - DG
POND 1000
"Sugar Cube / Small Cloud"
Following two great albums with Spirits Having Fun, Katie McShane and Jesse Heasly have formed pond 1000, a similarly luminescent noise pop band together with Iris Marion (We Are Winter’s Blue and Radiant Children) and Dylan Kumnick ((New England) Patriots). The group’s debut album, daffodiL, is out March 28th via Sad Cactus Records (Amiright?, Mothpuppy, Leafing), a fantastic blend of motorik art pop, math rock indebted complexity, and a swirling surge of dreamy disorientation. “sugar cube / small cloud” sets it off locked-in from the start and spiraling with a kaleidoscopic bliss. The gorgeous layering pulsates as they establish a solid framework only to distort time and space and they shift the structure while retaining their warped sense of focus. - DG
YOUNG WIDOWS
“The Darkest Side”
Where have all the heavy power trios gone? If you’re in Young Widows the answer is, well, nowhere. “The Darkest Side,” the Louisville band’s newest single, is easily the most approachable the band has sounded but without sacrificing an ounce of the oomph and bombast that made YW a must-see live experience. Their recent set at Subterranean Dissonance was a case in point. Devastatingly heavy yet bird-flu catchy, Young Widows eschew lazy genre tags. It’s probably why—despite an 11-year absence—Young Widows remain a reason to believe three-piece rock bands can still raise the dead. Their highly anticipated new album, Power Sucker, arrives March 21. - Benji Heywood
Further Listening:
ALPHA HOPPER "Razor" | BLACK ENDS “Live on KEXP” | BNNY "Love Trap" | BURSTING “Play It Nice“ | CHIME OBLIVION "Neighborhood Dog" | THE CONVENIENCE "Dub Vultures" | COR DE LUX "Long Face People" | CROSS RECORD "God Fax" | DECREPISY “Severed Ephemerality" | DES DEMONAS “Live on KEXP” | DUMBELLS "Hammer" | FLORIST "Gloom Designs" | GATES TO HELL "Crazed Killer" | GRAND SCHEME “EP” | HELENA DELAND "Altogether Unaccompanied, Vol. V" EP | HORSEGIRL "Frontrunner" | HOUR "I Fall To Pieces (Live at Philamoca, 4/12/24)" | HUMAN SHIELD “Stomped” (feat. Kathryn Edwards) | INGROWN "Watch Your Back" | IRON LUNG "Lifeless Life" | JAPANESE BREAKFAST "Mega Circuit" | JOLIE LAIDE "No Shape I Know" | THE MARTHA'S VINEYARD FERRIES "Context" (Strike Under cover) | MISANTHROPIC "Catacombs Of Human Sorrow" | MONDE UFO "Solitaire" | MORBIFIC "Panspermic Blight" | OLIVIA'S WORLD “Empresário” | PACKS "Before I Was Bleeding" | PAUL DE JONG "My Thoughts Seen From Above" | PREOCCUPATIONS "Focus" | SENSOR GHOST "Irritation on Demand" | SHARPIE SMILE "Love or Worship" | SOFIA BOLT "Black Hole" | SPLIT SYSTEM "On The Edge / On The Loose" | SWEET WILLIAMS "Ghost Jury / The Bangles From Hell" | TAXIDERMISTS "Does The Wind Know" | THOM YORKE & MARK PRITCHARD "Back In The Game" | TUNIC "Ordinary Unique Pain"