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.
ANIKA
“Walk Away”
Annika Henderson’s music as Anika has always been evolving, reshaping the golden era of post-punk with a penchant for futuristic psych, the results as expansive as they are hypnotic. With a debut album recorded together with Beak> and a follow up that was both haunting, sparse, and gorgeous (influenced by the solitude of the pandemic), Anika’s voice has always been the striking focal point to her lounge-tinged experimentations. Abyss, due out April 4th via Sacred Bones, is a booming record, recorded live to tape with minimal overdubs. It’s a kaleidoscopic rock record that could only come from Anika. “Walk Away” is full of nuanced swirling landscapes, dreamy echo, dazzling drums, and her stunning vocals that pull us from this realm of existence, even as she explores our current political climate and the dread that comes with it. - DG
ANKHLEJOHN & COOKIN SOUL
“The Michelin Man” LP
DC’s ANKHLEJOHN (aka Big Lordy) has one of underground hip-hop’s rawest deliveries, his flow (reminiscent of Roc Marciano) is brash and boisterous, every line hits like a prizefighter’s uppercut. On the other hand, Cookin Soul’s (Tha God Fahim, Raz Fresco, Larry June) soul sampling production is as smooth as eggs. On their new collaborative album, The Michelin Man, the combination proves to be an exceptional pairing, the grime of ANKHLEJOHN’s lyricism well matched with the clarity and disorientation of Cookin Soul’s hazier beats. With space to talk his shit and work his linguistic magic, Big Lordy reminds us of his ability to swerve between thoughtful sincerity and cinematic levels of braggadocio bars. - DG
DIABOLIZER
"Into The Depths of Diseased Minds"
Istanbul’s Diabolizer, a death metal band that shares members with Hyperdontia, Septage, and Engulfed among others, are set to release their second album, Murderous Revelations, next month via Dark Descent and Me Saco Un Ojo Records. The record’s lead single, “Into The Depths of Diseased Minds” is an absolute onslaught of dexterous carnage without a shred of subtelty. Diabolizer hit like a tornado or an inferno… or an inferno swirling around within a tornado… it’s as brutal as can be, decimation at its finest. Undeniably technical but not “tech death,” there’s an impenetrable force to the shifting riffs and spidery rhythms, rampaging with colossal force and a brilliant degree of primal complexity. - DG
ERASER
“Simon Says”
Eraser have spent the past two years as Philly’s best kept secret, playing shows with Control Top, Mesh, Artificial Go, and more. Set to release their highly anticipated debut Hideout on April 1st via Siltbreeze Records, the band’s eclectic tastes come together to create an amorphous shape of minimalist post-punk and quirky no-wave. The quartet of Sonam (Drill, Ursula), Pier (Privacy Issues), Kat (Amanda X, Clasp) and Juliette (Corey Flood), bring together so much of what makes DIY punk great, their music is scrappy, inventive, melodic, raw, remarkably irreverent, and socially conscious. “Simon Says” has a tightly wound groove and stabbing synths as the band spring to life, clamoring with a nervy simplicity that’s engaging and rampant with hooks both melodic and rhythmic. - DG
THE HARD QUARTET
“Lies (Something You Can Do)” b/w “Coreopsis Trail”
Supergroup The Hard Quartet has been touring a whole lot since last year's debut, and now they’re back with a cool single. Lead song "Lies..." is an Emmett Kelley composition, a mid-tempo tender slacker jam. Kelley’s vocals sound like he’s aping Stephen Malkmus’ style (in a good way), while all three axe-men fiddle around simultaneously in the cool solo section. The second track air drops into an improv jam sesh, where we find the HQ freewheeling like Can. A glimpse into the creative process, or just boys being boys - it’s pretty rad either way. - Matt Watton
OVLOV
“The Weekend (Demo)”
Ovlov’s third album Buds is well regarded as a veritable masterpiece of fuzzy pop perfection, a record built on sweet melodies, inescapable hooks, heaps of distortion, and dense pounding rhythms. Four years later and the band are sharing Buds Demos, a collection of Steve Hartlett’s home recorded solo demos. The release gives fans a glimpse into the rawest versions of the songs, captured in blown out tape rattling glory. “The Weekend (Demo)” is the only demo from the release that didn’t make the album in a finalized version, but there’s a lot of beauty to be found buried in the inescapable fuzz-pop sludge. The extreme lo-fi production (remastered by the band’s longtime engineer Michael John Thomas III) can’t detract from the genuine glow of the song, the surging melodic glue of the guitars, and the effortless charm. - DG
PACO CATHCART
“Bottleneck Blues”
Brooklyn’s Paco Cathcart is a visionary songwriter, their music is often experimental yet undeniably comforting. After a decade of releases as The Cradle, they’re getting ready to release Down On Them, their first album billed under their own name. Due out May 2nd via Wharf Cat Records (Open Head, Bambara, P.E.), the album brings Cathcart into the studio after a lifetime of gorgeous home recordings. Joined by Miriam Elhajli, Bailey Wollowitz, and Ellie Shannon, the quartet capture the same warmth at the core of Cathcart’s past recordings, but are given an opportunity for greater attention to detail. The gentle composition of “Bottleneck Blues” is softly lit but delivered in full focus, a beautiful song that blooms like springtime in city, the song thawing into a graceful, modern, and intricate folk glimmer. - DG
PAL
“Under Your Radar” EP
“Egg punk” may be a stupid name for a genre of music, but it’s far from dead. Sure it’s become oversaturated and sure there’s plenty of less-than-inspired takes on the style, but there’s still plenty of great bands expanding upon the genre’s rattled and frenzied sound. Cleveland’s PAL are a prime example, a great band that’s making kinetic punk that’s twitchy and manic but forward thinking, fried from the sun, and fully realized. Their latest EP, Under Your Radar, is full of incessant hooks (it’s hard to escape “can I get a…”) and demented funhouse riffs, contorted and charming, rough and tumble, but oddly radiant. - DG
POND 1000
"Rivulet"
Maine quartet pond 1000 are making some very unique tunes. While right at home in the present indie landscape, they resist rehashing musical cliches. “Rivulet” lulls you into a false sense of security. The opening guitar chime makes you think it’s some tender, dreamy pop, but then the beat comes in not where you'd expect it would and throws you off balance. The song instead follows dream logic as a series of catchy non-sequiturs that make some sort of inarticulate sense. The guitars are almost jagged but still inviting, the rhythms crisp but curious, and leader Katie McShane’s voice is lush and quizzical. The way pond 1000 weaves familiarity and mysteriousness is mesmerizing. - Matt Watton
Further Listening:
BEDRIDDEN "Chainsaw" | BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD "Happy Birthday" | BOLDY JAMES & CHUCK STRANGERS “Unapologetic” | BUTTHOLE SURFERS "The Annoying Song (Live at The Leather Fly)" | CAR SEAT HEADREST "Gethsemane" | CARE HOME "Irreversible Seance" | CASPER SKULLS “Dying In Eight Verses” | DECREPISY "Corpseless" | EXO "Mermaid Legend" | EXPLODING FLOWERS "Across A Sea" | FANTASY OF A BROKEN HEART "We Confront The Demons In Mysterious Ways" | GODCASTER "Judy Living Daylights" | THE GOTOBEDS "Goes Away" | GRACE ROGERS "Tranquility" | THE HIGH WATER MARKS "Postcard" | ILLUMINATI HOTTIES "777" | IRON LUNG "Purgatory Dust" / "Virus" / "Purgatory Dust (Finale)” | THE JESUS LIZARD "I'm Tired Of Being Your Mother" | JIMMIE D & NICHOLAS CRAVEN “The Gout” (feat. Tha God Fahim) | JUNE MCDOOM "Babe, You Light Me Up" | MAZOZMA "Can I Get A Ride" | M(H)AOL "DM:AM" | NOWHERE FLOWER “Heat Dome” LP | OLIVIA'S WORLD "Healthy & Wealthy" | THE OPHELIAS "Salome" | PERENNIAL "Perennial '65" | PERSONALITY CULT “Careful” | PREMROCK "Steal Wool" (feat. Pink Siifu) | ROSE CITY BAND "Hello Sunshine” (Relatively Clean Rivers cover) | SWEET WILLIAMS "Scaping Goat" | TAXIDERMISTS "Needless To Say" | TOTAL CON "Who Needs The Peace Corps?" LP | TVOD "Uniform" | WU-TANG CLAN “Mandingo” | YHWH NAILGUN "Animal Death Already Breathing"