by 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.
BABE REPORT
“DIY2K”
With their first US tour starting in less than two weeks, Chicago’s Babe Report follow up last year’s Did You Get Better with “DIY2K,” a feedback heavy new stand-alone single. The song fuses together atonal noise punk and power-pop melodies to create something piercing and swarming in equal measure. Written about “ruthless people who will do anything to get to the top,” it’s a brash recording that finds the band buried in distortion without losing the song’s catchy grip. Originally released as the closer to Ben Grigg’s (vocals, guitar) latest Whelpwisher LP, the Babe Report version has more of an emphasis on clarity, the bleeding guitars splintering in all directions, the unlikely melodic hooks embedded within the noise. - DG
BILLY WOODS
“Misery”
Each of billy woods’ solo albums over the past six years have been collaborations with a singular producer, Aethiopes with Preservation, Church with Messiah Muzik, and Maps with Kenny Segal, a collection of masterpieces and near-masterpieces alike. GOLLIWOG, due out in May via Backwoodz Studioz, is his first record to split production duties since 2019, with beats provided by all the aforementioned in addition to The Alchemist, Conductor Williams, and Steel Tipped Dove among others. Lead single “Misery” pairs woods together again with Segal, with a jazzy drumbeat and surrealist horns setting the tone. woods delivers a caustic tale of fandom, lust, and half dreamt realities. - DG
CAUSTIC WOUND
“Blackout”
Death Posture felt like seismic eruption upon it’s release in 2020, a flawless and ungodly fusion of death metal and grindcore that stands among this decade’s defining metal albums. Five years later and Caustic Wound (who share members with Mortiferum, Corpus Offal, Cerebral Rot, and Fetid) have returned, set to release Grinding Mechanism of Torment in April via Profound Lore Records. “Blackout,” the record’s lead single is a perfect continuation of their mangled and brutal death grind gurgling. Barreling headfirst into a dense and terror inducing stampede, the band continue their innate ability to move between crypt rattling low end and caveman riffs to cataclysmic shredding without warning. - DG
MASTA KILLA
“BK Harlem” (feat. Head I.C.E)
Wu-Tang’s Masta Killa moves with an uncanny sense of patience. His first solo album, No Said Date, was released eleven years after 36 Chambers, gestating long enough that the group had already released their first four albums and reshaped their sound, yet No Said Date felt like the endcap on the classic era of RZA’s production. With his ever silky flow and laidback delivery, he might keep the Wu-Tang’s lowest profile, but his bars have never lacked substance. Eight years after the release of Loyalty Is Royalty, Masta Killa returns with new album Balance, teaming up with NYC battle rapper Head I.C.E for lead single “BK Harlem,” a cross borough affair that’s simultaneously raw and supremely smooth. Masta Killa hits us with his signature smoke, reminding us “how we do, still get the money, peace to Hulu.” - DG
MCLUSKY
“People Person”
In what some might call “the most welcome return of the modern era” (not to overhype anything), we’re still thrilled about the reemergence of mclusky, a singular band if there ever was one. With their new album, the world is still here and so are we, due out in May via Ipecac, the trio present “People Person,” a dense and sludgy beast of agitated noise rock perfection that snips at high and mighty hindsight, separating right and wrong after the fact. Andrew “Falco” Falkous’ biting and comedic lyrics take an ever winding approach, yelped beneath the sustained growl of heavily drifting distortion and an incessant rhythm that grinds and grooves. Built on a corrosive and souring attack, mclusky work their magic to deliver radiant hooks in the face of ugliness (exploding children and all). - DG
TY SEGALL
“Fantastic Tomb”
Has anyone checked if Ty Segall is in some kind of gambling debt? Because after releasing two albums last year and a collab as Freckle earlier this year, he’s back with another new album, Possession, slated for a May release. If his debts are squared, then Segall just has an insatiable desire to rock – and all the better for us. Lead single “Fantastic Tomb” is a well-wrought ripper. At nearly six minutes, we find Segall in a poppy mode (well, poppy for him), putting fuzz on the back burner and tapping into the melodic smoothness of ‘60s-psych. He indulges in his favorite guitar moves and production tricks, with percussive acoustic guitar, a delightfully slackerish guitar solo, and some tasteful horn overdubs as his creamy falsetto lilts over a narrative lyric. Another winner from one of the hardest working rockers in the game. - Matt Watton
Further Listening:
1-800-MIKEY "Rental Girlfriend" | THE CONVENIENCE "Opportunity" | CROSS RECORD "Led Through Life" | DEADY "Hot Damn" | DUMMY "Unshaped Road (GMO's Gummy Remix)" | EGGY "Are You Not Entertained?" | ELIZA NIEMI "DM BF" | FEEBLE LITTLE HORSE "This Is Real" | FLORIST "Moon, Sea, Devil" | FLORRY "Hey Baby" | FLY ANAKIN "The Times" | FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS "Economy" | FREDDIE GIBBS "The Big 2" | FUCKED UP "Self-Driving Man" | FULL OF HELL "Audiotree Live" | GENTLE LEADER XIV "Fawning" | GRAILS "Silver Bells" | JALEN NGONDA "Just as Long as We're Together" | MIRANDA SPATULA & NOWHERE FLOWER “Around And About You” | NIGHT BEATS "Behind The Green Door" | SUMAC & MOOR MOTHER "Hard Truth" | THANYA IYER "I Am Here Now" | THOM YORKE & MARK PRITCHARD "This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice" | TRUTHPASTE "See You Around" | TVO "Let It Roll" | WATER MACHINE "Tiffany"