by Dan Goldin (@paintingwithdan)
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 late hours of the night and semi-unedited... but full of love and heart. The list is in alphabetical order and we sincerely recommend checking it all out. There's a lot of great new music being released. Support the bands you love. Spread the word and buy some new music.
ANNA ALTMAN
“Figure 8”
Following the release of Annatomic’s (out March 13th via Substitute Scene) early singles “Balloon” and “Baby Harmini,” Anna Altman are back with “Figure 8,” a song that’s long been a staple of their live sets. Built on an incredible drum pattern from Christian Billard that feels detached and played ever so slightly behind the beat in the best of ways, the song unfurls from a gorgeous arpeggiated progression into full blown art pop metamorphosis. Lucia Arias’ vocals, which have earned comparisons to both Kim Deal and Mary Timony, sit at the heart of “Figure 8,” with a presence that’s gentle but expressive, drawn out at times but always locked in. It’s seemingly a song about discovering and taking the steps needed for a better personal future, a place where all ends up okay for everyone down the line. As the song’s layers build toward a sweeping finale, the melodies only get tighter, everything in its right place.
ANNABELLE CHAIRLEGS
“Patty Get Your Gun”
Last week saw the release of the Austin based trio Annabelle Chairlegs’ new album, Waking Up, a record that really shines with FM gold songwriting, a set of radio friendly rippers that embraces fuzz and hooks in equal measure. Produced by none other than Ty Segall, there’s a sun soaked glow to the recordings, clean and immediate, and yet the edges rarely feel sanded down. Lindsey Mackin’s songs flitter with soft harmonies and a distorted crunch, opting for minimal structures and a muscular approach to alternative rock with a pop core. What the album lacks in grit and rawness it makes up for in dazzling hooks, as evident on “Patty Get Your Gun,” a bluesy psych pop barn burner that stomps and grooves with punchy charm. With a lively bass lead (courtesy of Derek Strahan) and a steady rumble, the song is a rallying cry for standing up for your community in the face of our crumbling society.
CRYPTWORM
“Drowning in Purulent Excrementia”
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes you can judge a song by its title. “Drowning In Purulent Excrementia” is the first single from the Bristol, UK based death metal band Cryptworm’s new album Infectious Pathological Waste (due out March 27th via Me Saco Un Ojo Records), and the song is every bit as distasteful and disgusting as you’d hope it might be. With an incessant avalanche of drums and buzzsaw riffs that seem determined to tear the spine right out from your flesh, the band come oozing out at full speed with a filth and putridity that feels as though it’s been festering for millennia. “Drowning In Purulent Excrementia” swirls like a tornado of chainsaws and severed limbs, but there’s also a deep groove to it all. Vomit induced vocals that gurgle and howl with demonic fury and a violent spray of skull crushing decimation on the drums keep it rotten to their core, and we can’t wait to hear more.
JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD & DOLOUR
“Why Bother?” (Weezer cover)
We don’t tend to feature all too many covers on “Fuzzy Meadows,” let alone covers of popular Weezer songs, but Jessica Lea Mayfield and Dolour's cover of Pinkerton staple “Why Bother?” is both gorgeous and engaging in a way that feels like meeting an old friend for the first time. They’ve transformed the song into a sparse piano ballad, slowed the tempo, removed the distortion (and guitars), and yet they’ve retained the charm (perhaps a testament to the strength of the original). With the duo set to cover the entirety of Pinkerton it will be interesting to hear if every song follows the same format, but it’s evident that they share a reverence for the source material. Mayfield’s gorgeous vocals flip the cringier aspects of the original as the male gaze is tossed out the window, and the same point of view takes a different feel amid close harmonies and a new compositional take on a timeless classic.
STUCK
“Instakill”
Stuck just keep getting better. Three years after the release of Freak Frequency, the Chicago based trio are set to release their third album, Optimizer, a record that absolutely pulls the rug out from under the listener, evolving Stuck’s sound in a major way that somehow feels both profound and entirely natural. The band’s signature blend of post-punk, noise rock, and art punk brilliance still feels unique, but Optimizer arrives with a focus on colossal melodies that sit side by side with their contorted chaos and primal sense of modern anxiety. “Instakill,” the album’s first single, is a frantic introduction, erupting with echoing drum patterns and guitars that ping pong around in your head. The song deals with the pitfalls of turning to the internet in times of need only to be sucked in by “huckster gurus,” a concept that Greg Obis’ pointed lyrics bring to vivid life (as does the exceptional Zack Shorrosh directed music video). There’s dread, there’s terror, there’s a sense of humor, and there’s the veiled reminder that you don’t need the products being sold to you.
Further Listening:
THE ALCHEMIST & BUDGIE “Lord Protect Me” (feat. Roc Marciano) | BLACK BEACH “Broken Glass” | DRAÜMAR “Atomvinter I” + “Atomvinter II” | GAME SET MATCH “Game Set Match” EP | ITCHY & THE NITS “Secrets” | KING TUFF “Twisted On A Train” | POPULATION II “Audiotree Live” | THEEE RETAIL SIMPS "Quality At Your Feet” | THE SERFS “Rarities Vol. 2“ LP | TERATOMA “Longing Voracity” | THANKS FOR COMING “love karaoke, hate paying rent” | TV STAR “Texas Relation” | TVOD “Audiotree Live”