by Dan Goldin and Patrick Pilch
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.
CAPTAIN FREDERICKSON
"Dyson Airblade Domestic"
Out of all the songs about buying a Dyson Airblade for a home bathroom, Captain Frederickson’s latest is the finest by a longshot. The band is gearing up to release INTROVERTS UNITE next month, and “Dyson Airblade Domestic” is the latest sampling from the Buffalo duo’s upcoming full length. A skronking bass, pummeling percussion, and speak-sung vocals document a consumer’s internal debate and dying dream to buy the now-discontinued, commercially used Dyson Airblade for $400 dollars. It’s a hilarious monologue by a towel-using loser who considers the social implications of owning a Dyson Airblade before deciding they simply cannot have it any other way. Only the finest Dyson Airblade for Captain Frederickson’s water closet. - PP
COLD MEAT
"Prick at the Pub"
I consider Hot and Flustered, Cold Meat’s full length debut, to be a “perfect ten” record. The band absolutely shred and they do it with an incredible amount of personality and biting charisma. While five years have passed without any inclination of a future (though members stayed active with Gaffers, Amerol, Krimi, etc), the Perth based punk rippers make their return with the fantastically named, Cake and Arse Party, a new EP due out April 18th via Static Shock Records and Helta Skelta Records. Lead single “Prick at the Pub” is giving us a reason to celebrate at a time where there’s little to celebrate, Cold Meat are back! From the brash feedback that opens the track to the primal beat, this one rips with wiry and kinetic energy as Ash Gash’s elastic vocals lament the punishers and perverts lurking at the bar. - DG
THE EX
“If Your Mirror Breaks” LP
As one of punk music’s most innovative bands, Amsterdam’s The Ex have remained an unpredictable force for over four decades, igniting the anarcho-punk scene way back in 1979 and they’re been reshaping it ever since. The band’s off-kilter energy, commitment to exploratory rhythmic odysseys, and their head-spinning dissolution of art punk’s genre walls has always been their hallmark, and they sound as vital as ever on new album, If Your Mirror Breaks, their first new LP in seven years. With the band’s world music influences spidering in divergent directions (highlighted by Katherina Bornefeld’s drumming), The Ex retain an unshakeable clarity as they are able to make challenging music that always feels oddly inviting. Forward thinking both in it’s lyrical freedom and in the polyrhythmic structures, The Ex continue to dismantle complacency while defying the creative odds. - DG
HELLGIRL
“Headache”
Brooklyn’s Human People released one incredibly catchy full length record before deciding to go their separate ways, leaving an enormous sugar-spun pop and slacker punk hole in our hearts. In recent years, members of the band have begun to resurface in new projects - Abby Austin (bass) plays in Easy Bruiser and now Hayley Livingston (vocals/guitar) has a new band, Hellgirl, set to release their debut, Hellworld on April 18th. Joined by Emma Witmer (gobbinjr) and Jesse Paller (June Gloom), the trio are continuing down the path that Human People began on “Headache,” their earworm of a debut single. With verses that feel melodically stretched like taffy, the band launch into inescapable hooks in the chorus. Crank it up and sing along, there’s no denying it. - DG
SAM WOODRING
“You’ll Live”
After seven years of Mister Goblin, Sam Woodring is retiring the moniker. Long live Mister Goblin, but the good news is that he’s still moving forward with his solo music (in addition to Deady), he’s simply doing so under his actual first and middle name. “You’ll Live” is the first song since the name change, and it’s an emotional tour-de-force. The lyrics are gorgeous but just deceptive enough that I can’t quite tell if it’s uplifting or profoundly sad (the idea of being alive because you’re told you have to be). Either way, it’s affecting, and it weighs like a ton of bricks on your chest. Stripped down to acoustics and Sam’s vocals, there’s a quiet resolve to the song, even as it’s sprinkled with gripping nuance (see 2:13) and close harmonies. - DG
SISTEMA OBSOLETO
“Esmagado Pela Engrenagem Capitalista” EP
Macedonian hardcore project Sistema Obsoleto lives in the red, right out of step. Their latest 5-song EP Esmagado Pela Engrenagem Capitalista, which translates to “Crushed by the Capitalist Gear,” is a fervent criticism of gentrification, genocide, and the unjust powers that be. This record is immediately gripping, not only in its instrumentation, but specifically in its overpowered production. In its loudness, there’s an overwhelming sonic intensity that gets right in your face even at the lowest of volumes. Sung in Portuguese, Sistema Obsoleto argues that the people of the world need to organize against the systems which no longer serve us. - PP
THANK
“Live @ Damaged Goods” EP
If life is measured in stages of “before seeing Thank live” and “after seeing Thank live” (which it likely isn’t), I’m happy to say I’ve entered my “after” phase. With eight years of lofty expectations to live up to, Thank blew them all away, putting on a set more visceral, abrasive, pounding (shout out drummer extraordinaire Steve Myles) and joyously deranged than I could have hoped for. Their music is heavy, wild, and antagonistic, but it’s also swarming with exceptional hooks. Live @ Damaged Goods is the recording of a recent session the band did for TechNoir, highlighting three of the many stand-outs from last year’s I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed. The live performances stay close to the originals, harnessing the brash and noisy songs at their corrosive best. From the throbbing pulse of “Control” to the noise rock dirge of “The Spores,” Thank pair catharsis and tongue-in-cheek humor with tightly wound structures as volatile as they are brilliant. - DG
Further Listening:
7SECONDS "Change In My Head" | ADDED DIMENSIONS "Uppers" EP | ANIKA "Oxygen" | BEN SERETAN "Bowing Cypress (Black Dirt Piano Version)" | BNNY "By My Side" | BRAINIAC "Live on KEXP" | BUTTHOLE SURFERS "Human Cannonball (Live)" | DAUBER “Falling Down” LP | DAZY “Pay No Mind (To The Signs)” | FLORIST "Jellyfish" | THE HIGH WATER MARKS "Old Farm Witches" | JAY WORTHY "I Wish" | LE VOLUME COURBE "Two-Love" (feat. Noel Gallagher) | LILY SEABIRD "Arrow" | MOMMA "Rodeo" | THE OPHELIAS "Cicada" | THE PENNYS "Say Something" | RAZ FRESCO & FUTUREWAVE "Steve Austin" (feat. Daniel Son) | SAUFKNAST "Saufknast" LP | SAVAK "No Man's Island" | SNOOPER "Dial Tone" / "In The Dark" | SSIK "Inferior Health" EP | THA GOD FAHIM & NICHOLAS CRAVEN "Dump Gawd: Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 9" EP | THE VACANT LOT "Age" | WIPES "Social Mask"