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 "Extended 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 (especially as we try not to repeat from last month). There's a lot of great new music being released. Support the bands you love. Spread the word and buy some new music.
DEERHOOF
“Sun Like It Hot”
After three decades together, Deerhoof are self-releasing an album for the first time. Divine Schism, due out October 2nd on the band’s own Children Of Hoof Music Library, exists in the physical form as a tour exclusive (as if we needed more reasons to go see Deerhoof live) with the digital album available exclusively via Bandcamp. While the band operate pretty autonomously even with label support, “Sun Like It Hot” could be seen as their ultimate freedom in expression (though I can’t imagine anyone has been stifling that to begin with). Evolving over a nearly thirteen minute runtime, the song opens on an ominous note, shifting like wave pools of cinematic dread. Eventually the tides turn, Greg Saunier’s hypnotic drum beat restructures the song (opting to blow minds around a minute a half), and we’re lead into the surrealist foray. While Deerhoof’s radiance can hardly be suppressed, the band play this one in the shadows, lurking around tension with minor chord progressions, distorted noise, and narrative darkness. With the rhythmic pulse contracting and combusting, the song bursts and recedes once more around the eight minute mark, following a path marked by shifting time and Satomi Matsuzaki’s beautiful vocals.
GRACIEHORSE
“5 Card Stud”
Three years ago GracieHorse re-introduced herself, shining a new light on her music and songwriting as she relocated from Boston to Los Angeles, releasing her exceptionally great full length debut, L.A. Horse. Pairing together outlaw country, melancholic pop, and Laurel Canyon-esque psych folk, there’s a mix of fried Americana textures and earnest songwriting that shines brightly from the dusty plains. Her Chris Cohen produced second album, Breaking and Entering, is due out in January via Wharf Cat Records (CS Cleaners, Holy Motors, Drop Nineteens), an album built on immaculate narrative tales and a degree of songwriting rarely found these days. “5 Card Stud,” the record’s lead single is flush with adoration for sweeping country swoon, with GracieHorse’s delicate vocal harmonies detailing a backroom poker game, part danger, part calm resolve, and all intrigue.
HEMORRHOID + SEQUESTRUM
“Split”
For anyone that’s felt that this year has been lacking in truly filthy death metal, we welcome the putridity of Hemorrhoid and Sequestrum’s new split EP. Co-released by Extremely Rotten (Fosse Septique, Undergang, Corpus Offal) and Headsplit Records (Oxygen Destroyer, Nedgravd, Alienator), the decomposition is festering across continents, the stench encrusted from Portland to Copenhagen, a wake of entrails tied between them. With both bands adept at fracturing skulls with feral complicity, Hemorrhoid (who share members with Witch Vomit, Torture Rack, etc) grind their path toward oblivion with sheer density and brute force. As heavy as it is fast, their side often feel like rapid fire swings of a sledgehammer to the face. Sequestrum (who share members with Undergang, Phrenelith, Chaotian, etc) play vile gore soaked death metal, burnt to ash with dread and a sense of unpredictability that’s rare for the genre. Clawing their way from one sludgy riff to the next, there’s a vomit-inducing level of disgust and decay (and a surprise moment of progressive thrash), which is to say that it pairs perfectly with Hemorrhoid (who also released an exceptionally rotten split last year with Cadaveric Incubator).
LOU TURNER
“Ants Underfoot”
Fresh off the release of Styrofoam Winos’ much beloved Any River album, Lou Turner is turning her attention toward her next solo album. Strangels, due out November 6th via Spinster Records (Leah Senior, Rosali, Wednesday Knudsen), pairs together immersive lyrics and swells of cosmic country instrumentation, the album sounding at poetic as it does lush. Following tours playing with both Ryan Davis and MJ Lenderman, Turner returned to her Nashville based home studio to layout her ideas, splitting the difference between meditative indie rock and sun-fried folk, the songs delicately illuminated with lasting resolve. “Ants Underfoot,” the record’s lead single, slides with a gorgeous splendor amid close-mic’d acoustic guitars, soft flutes, and a layer of synths that ground the composition with textural warmth. At the heart of the song is Turner’s voice and lyrics, her words empathetic and accepting of uncertainty, easing into the progression with an open heart.
PARTY DOZEN
“Euro Stomper”
With “Special Unit” and “Mad Rooter” already out in the world, Party Dozen have announced their excellently titled fifth album, 21 Bum Salute. Set for release on November 6th via City Slang (McKinley Dixon, Lambrini Girls, King Hannah) and Remote Control (Ed Kuepper, Jim White, Mess Esque), the record is said to find the Sydney based duo “trimming the fat,” bringing their pulsating brand of avant-garde psych punk to a place of rattled accessibility (which, in all fairness, they were never all too far from to begin with). “Euro Stomper” is the kind of post-punk meets no-wave song that feels like it will go absolutely berserk in a live setting, itching with repetition via programmed bass and hypnotic grooves. The band build on the mesmerizing structure with explosive saxophone noise, indecipherable vocals set deep in reverb, and drums that whip into a tornado whenever the song allows it. It’s a real ripper.
PET FOX
“Balance”
Consider this the official “you might consider this biased, but I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t include it warning.” If that bugs you, don’t read it, just listen for yourself.
Pet Fox are back. While four years have passed since the band released A Face In Your Life, the Boston based trio are set to return with Balance, a new full length due out on October 23rd. Recorded together with producer/engineer Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Truth Club, Bnny), there’s a depth of detail to the album that really glistens from song to song, highlighted in intricate melodies, colossal rhythmic shifts that feel impossibly subtle, and an earnest emotional weight. “Balance,” the lead single and album opener sets the tone for the record, weaving between surging waves of guitars, a relentlessly up-beat tempo, and inescapable hooks galore. The ever-present brightness of the song (from Jesse Weiss’ crushing fills to the bleeding riffs) is juxtaposed by Theo Hartlett’s lyrical themes - rooted in a push-and-pull between anxious impulsivity vs endless hesitation.
RETAIL SIMPS
“Hi-Heel Sneakers”
Having ever so slightly tweaked their band name six or seven times over the past four years (tha / theee / thine, etc) Retail Simps don’t seem to care if you’re along for the ride. Despite that, fans of garage punk with little concern for leaps in fidelity are all on board, the band establishing themselves as jangly punk’s true heroes. Last year “Theee” Simps took on a mysterious alter-ego, releasing a ramshackle double album as The Educated Fools, but their signature charm has remained front-and-center. The Montreal based band have dropped the “formalities” for their latest, Real Simple (appearing as Retail Simps) and in the spirit of simplicity, they’ve split the songwriting duties down the middle. Joe Chamandy (Celluloid Lunch, Feeling Figures) and Obe Anderson are making rotten pop tunes together but apart, rock ‘n’ roll wrapped in razor wire, their songs a compliment to one another. Chamandy’s “Daffodil Girl” sounds like a tape slowly unwinding, a brash boogie of tongue-in-cheek agitation. Anderson’s “Hi-Heel Sneakers” on the other hand is wild and reckless, careening toward something like a crusty pop interpretation of a less bloated Stone Roses. Ragged and rattled, the song jerks with erratic momentum, a punchy sense of combustion, and stubbed-toe shredding in miniature.
SHADY BUG
“My Night Routine”
Supremely sweet and viscerally jarring in equal measure, Shady Bug are back at it, diving headfirst into the mutated pop carnage of their sound on their third full length album, I Wanted To Be There. Due out on October 30th via Julia’s War (Sour Widows, MX Lonely) and Bee Side Cassettes (GBMystical, Floral Print), the record continues to explore the balance between bedroom pop melodies and heaps of layered experimentation, warbling and off-guard one moment while swarming with noise the next. “My Night Routine” traverses between these two poles in a delightfully unfiltered way, a sonic rollercoaster thats always threatening to veer off the rails in a blaze of glory. Hannah Rainey’s vocals are the glue that binds it all together, the human connection between the fractured layers of innocence, serenity, and caterwauling discordance.
THIS IS LORELEI
“The Singer In My Band”
It’s long been apparent that This Is Lorelei (aka Nate Amos) is capable of anything. From the earliest years of the project when he bounced between progressive pop, avant-garde experimentation, melancholic dance music, and bouncy electronic drifts to his meteoric rise as one of our generation’s best songwriters, his unflinching vision has always been at the heart of the project. Try something new, see what sticks. The Singer In My Band, his latest album and first released via Matador Records, has been met with universal praise and for good reason as Amos puts his timeless writing at the forefront on a record that embraces familial roots with one foot in folk and bluegrass and the other in glowing power-pop. It’s a masterclass in Americana songwriting, nuanced and detailed (yet open to interpretation) with an emotional warmth. This Is Lorelei craft songs with a nonchalant sense of perfection, the type of songs that anyone can cover because the writing feels universal, the structures solid gold. With highlights out the wazoo, the album’s title track feels like a true stand-out, a song that could have just as easily been written by John Prine. Built on dueling banjo and acoustic guitar, Amos sings of life between the city and the country with a charm that feels destined to be sung around a rippling campfire.
WHELPWISHER
the singles of “777”
Steeped in the gluey charms of DIY basement fuzz and home recordings, Whelpwisher is the anything goes solo project of Chicago’s Ben Grigg (Babe Report, Fckr Jr, Geronimo!), an outlet for him to write without pressure, without expectation. It’s a place of freedom, a chance to explore, and whelp, the music rips. Set to release his latest album, 777, on September 18th, Grigg is sharing four of the record’s thirteen songs, highlight his inherent knack for swarming melodies and fuzzy punk decimation. Each song carries with it a sense of immediacy, the mountainous hooks rippling in time with the distorted riffs (and there are plenty of cool riffs). It’s a chance to live in the music, a temporary escape, and it feels great. From the static bliss of “I Can’t Find The Door” to the syrupy shoegaze density of “Acceptance,” Whelpwisher are working with a spark as hot as the sun. There’s a sing-a-long joy to the less-than-joyous “About You,” and then there’s “Sunlight,” a song that buzzes on a circular melody, chopping up and down like the friendliest chainsaw you’ve ever heard.
extended listening:
A COUNTRY WESTERN “Blood Eagle”
BED MAKER “The Mark”
BIMBO “Sick Moves”
BUCKET “Untouchable”
CHASTITY BELT “I Could Say Less” / “Pavement”
CLINIC “You & I”
CRYING LAUGHING “Talking” LP
CURLY CASTRO “SuperDOPE”
DAZY “Beat Change”
DICKLICKERS “Dicklickers” EP
THE DRIN "Cannery Action"
ESKUPA “Esta Oscuridada No Es Mia” LP
FAT NWIGWE “Queen (The Whack Version)” (feat. Tierra Whack)
FINE “Everything In The Shade”
GANSER “Futuretripping”
GASH “Data Master”
GHOST FUNK ORCHESTRA “Yours”
GILLA BAND “Alogia”
HAVANA SYNDROME “Pray To The State”
HELLO SHARK “The River”
JUNE MCDOOM “Get Out Of My Life”
KOHTI TUHOA “Valmistaudu Sotaan”
LIARS “Ice Pick, Kalamazoo”
LILY SEABIRD “Lightspheres On Their Way”
LOST ANIMAL “Bowl of Berries”
M(H)AOL “Scam Manifesto”
MILITARY SCHOOL “School Is War” EP
MOUNTAIN MOVERS “Killing Frost”
THE OLYMPIANS “Don’t Let Me Down” (feat. Lee Fields) (The Beatles cover)
OMNI “Coliseum”
ONE BY ONE “7 Tracks” EP
PATTER “Now”
PISS “Time Loop at Hot Slit”
PORCELAIN “Waltz”
PSYCHIC FLOWERS “Follow You Down” / “Summer Rose”
RAKIM, MASTA KILLA, & KURUPT “Rabbit” (feat. Mac Shawn 100)
RATBOYS “Fix My Brain (SiriusXM Session)” (The Marked Men cover)
RAZ FRESCO “Things We Do” (feat. Estee Nack)
SHUDDER TO THINK “Something To Do” (Depeche Mode cover)
SNOOPER “Live on KEXP”
SOUL GLO “February Theory”
STYLES P & ARAABMUZIK “Ghost of Gotham”
TONER “Cleo”
TRAPS PS “US Tour EP 2026”
TWISTED TEENS “When We Met”
ULTRA LIGHTS “Clockin Out (2026 Version)”
VANISHING TWIN “Oral Tradition”
WHIPPETS “Nothing New”
YAMMER JAW “Gun”
YEAH YEAH YEAHS “Hidden In Pieces: Live at Royal Albert Hall” LP
YOUNG WIDOWS “White Water”
YOUR OLD DROOG “I Don’t Care” (feat. Flying Lotus & Georgia Anne Muldrow)