by Dan Goldin 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.
CAUSTIC WOUND
“Technologist Hell Future"
If you’re looking for ugly music to match these ugly times we’re all living through, there’s few better suited than Caustic Wound. With Grinding Mechanism of Torment, their second album out April 25th, the title really says a lot, as the band offer grinding death metal that’s impossibly heavy, brutal, and steeped in terror. Brash and to the point, it’s built for a bleak future, dread for the end times… and it absolutely rips. “Technologist Hell Future” is the record’s second single, a song that comes on like a nightmare of nuclear proportions, and it doesn’t get much sunnier as they band thrash and swerve through the carnage. Caustic Wound maneuver between several distinct just over two minutes, each shift in tempo more devastating than the last. Technology might just kill us all in the end, so listen to more Caustic Wound. - DG
MCLUSKY
"Chekov's Guns"
Will each and every one of mclusky’s new singles be featured on “Fuzzy Meadows,” you ask? Of course they will, it’s the (heroic) return of mclusky. After two decades, Andrew “Falco” Falkous and Jack Egglestone return to hollowed ground with Damien Sayell (who has now been in the band for ten years), reanimating mclusky throughout their dynamic new album, the world is still here and so are we. “Chekov’s Guns,” the record’s latest single is sludgy, pummeling, and inherently over clever, pounding with a dirge of low end and rusty guitars. Falco’s mind warping lyrics are delivered with a deviant smirk that rewards intelligence as they also pay their respects to sheer stupidity. The riffs are clawing, the intensity is palpable, and the lyrics are equal parts biting and irreverent. The video is something special too. - DG
SHARK?
“King of the Chaff”
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, Shark? has returned (editors note: sorry, I couldn’t help myself). Eight years after the release of their Abilene EP, the Brooklyn based slacker punk DIY champs of the early 2010s are set to release their new album, A Simple Life, on May 9th. Recorded back in 2022 and recently completed (because sometimes life has other plans), the band are both ripping back into their ramshackle garage pop tendencies and exploring new ideas, textures, and structures. Lead single and album opener “King of the Chaff” is a great re-introduction, a song that soars with immediate hooks and a deep bass groove but still manages to come sonically unglued, balancing strange flourishes and a drawn out chorus that’s both memorable and delightfully off balanced. - DG
SLIPPERS
"Guess I Started A Band"
In celebration of Slippers’ first East Coast shows, Madeline BB’s solo project turned full band return with new single “Guess I Started A Band,” and no surprise, it’s absolutely radiant and impossibly catchy. Much like Slippers’ phenomenal debut album, So You Like Slippers?, the group’s latest single is a surging mix of power-pop and jangly indie rock, with every melodic choice seemingly designed for maximum impact. With Madeline BB handling vocals and drums, she’s joined by bassist Brendon Avalos, and a trio of guitarists - Blue Broderick, Joojoo Ashworth, and Jay Heiselmann, resulting in a balance of twee and muscular structures as hooks abound around every corner, oozing like cartoon syrup over a hot stack of pancakes (or something else that’s undeniably great). Madeline’s songwriting is incredibly engaging, subtle turns create enormous pop nuance. - DG
STEREOLAB
“Aerial Troubles”
Stereolab are back! It’s been fifteen years since they’ve put out a record as “the groop.” In many ways, “Aerial Troubles,” picks up where they last left off on Not Music, a truly long decade and a half ago. The synths are still scintillating and bold. The main body of the song is the band’s signature steady beat with a funky retro sheen. The vocal harmonies and production have that 20th century radio quality and beauty as they always have. Lyrically, they are also building off of their last record. There is a sense of political and moral expediency to the words, “System/Extortion/Greed is an unfillable hole.” Those lyrics set to funky melody bring to mind a David Byrne quote: “To shake your rump is to be environmentally aware.” As evinced in Laetitia Sadier’s lyrics in other projects since the groop’s hiatus, their music feels more like a call to action. The reason for playing or experimenting is itself a statement, but even more, it appears they feel that present world circumstances also necessitate perhaps less abstract and more direct calls to action. “Aerial Troubles” does just that, in pleasing and intriguing ways. - Zak Mercado
Further Listening:
ACTIVITY "In Another Way" | BILL ORCUTT GUITAR QUARTET "Barely Driving (Live)" | BILLY WOODS & STEEL TIPPED DOVE "BLK ZMBY" | BLEARY EYED "Heaven Year" | CASPER SKULLS "Numbing Mind" | CHEPANG "Parichaya 2.0 / Shakti (Force)" | THE CONVENIENCE "Western Pepsi Cola Town" | DEERHOOF "Under Rats" (feat. Saul Williams) | DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN & THEGOODNEWS "Fakebreaker" | ESTHER ROSE "The Clown" | FLORRY "First it was a movie, then it was a book" | FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS "Total Reset" | FRANKIE COSMOS "Vanity" | GWENNO "Dancing On Volcanoes" | HELLO MARY "Audiotree Live" | IRON LUNG "Cog II" | LIFEGUARD "It Will Get Worse" | MAMALARKY "Won't Give Up" | MESS ESQUE "Crow's Ash Tree" | MJ LENDERMAN "Wristwatch" | MOLD! "Elevator!" | NOBLE ROT “Hang On” | PACO CATHCART "Invasive Species" | PAPER CASTLES "Content Creator" | PISSED JEANS "Waves of Fear" (Lou Reed cover) | PORCHES "Shirt Expansion Pack" | PRIMAL BRAIN "Is It All A Game?" EP | RIPPED TO SHREDS "No Glory Here To Be Found - Live at Bandcamp" LP | SOFT PALMS “Radio” | SORRY "Jetplane" | SUMAC & MOOR MOTHER "Scene 4" | THA GOD FAHIM & DREGA33 "Lethal Weapon 2" EP | THANYA IYER "What Can We Grow That We Can't See From Here?" | THOM YORKE & MARK PRITCHARD "Gangsters" | TVOD "Pool House" | WU-TANG CLAN & MATHEMATICS “Warriors Two, Cooley High” (feat. Benny The Butcher)