by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)

Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, our weekly 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 from around the web. It's generally written in the early hours of the morning and semi-unedited... but full of love and heart. The number rankings are arbitrary and we sincerely recommend checking out all the music included. There's a lot of great new music being released. Support the bands you love. Spread the word and buy some new music.

*Disclaimer: We are making a conscious effort not to include any artist in our countdown on back-to-back weeks in order to diversify the feature, so be sure to check the "further listening" as well because it's often of "countdown" quality too.

1. SHIMMER | "High Gloss"

Shimmer is the "supergroup" the world has been waiting for. Comprised of Ani Ivry-Block and Nina Ryser (Palberta), Paco Cathcart (The Cradle), and Simon Hanes (Tredici Bacci), the band's sludgy post-punk is both unique and refreshing. One of the most exciting live bands I've seen in recent memory, Shimmer are set to release their self-titled album this Fall via Drop Medium Records, a vicious record of systematically ugly noise rock blended with sharp, jagged post-punk in the most perfectly abrasive ways. Lead single "High Gloss" is a fitting introduction with it's rough darting rhythm swinging for the fences, a punchy wrapped around their rough and heavy sludge. The detached pummel is balanced by Ivry-Block's hoarsely croaked melodies and wild yelps. Sounding something like the Melvins meets Kleenex, it's just about perfect. Shout-a-long everyone, Shimmer are your new favorite band.

2. PRIMUS | "The Seven"

Primus are it again. It's been three years since their deranged take on the Willy Wonka soundtrack and six years since the band released Green Naugahyde, their first record following their triumphant return. If there's anything in this world we can depend on, things remain as weird as ever for the Bay Area trio as we embark upon The Desaturating Seven, a record based on the 70's Italian children's book The Rainbow Goblins. Les Claypool, Tim Alexander, and Larry LaLonde (together again for the first time since Tales From The Punchbowl) haven't missed a beat in the 20+ years since they last recorded together. "The Seven" is business as usual with plodding bass lines, complex shifting time signatures, and Claypool's cartoonish storytelling. The band sizzle like hot grease in the frying pan, bubbling in and out of King Crimson influenced prog and zany manipulated art punk, pushing their band's signature brilliance to its most challenging... which says a lot when we're talking about Primus.

3. DALE CROVER | "The Fickle Finger of Fate" LP

Even as the singles from The Fickle Finger of Fate trickled out into the world, little could prepare listeners for the experience that is the record heard in full, a scattered affair of psych, pop, experimental segues, and tying it altogether, Dale Crover's signature drumming. Working both in the frame of standard song structures and in detached avalanches of Crover's unique stampeding polyrhythms, the album's 20 tracks whir by in 36 minutes, with half the songs clocking in under a minute. The album should be listened to in full, with each segue and divergent movement coming together to create the full picture; a mix of Crover's love for the Rolling Stones, textural psych-pop, and well... the Melvins.

4. WIDOWSPEAK | "When I Tried"

"When I Tried" is a busy song for Widowspeak. While the band have spent most of their three albums with breezy atmospheres and haunting minimal recordings, the band sound enormous on "When I Tried," washing in psychedelic textures with Molly Hamilton's always stunning vocals. Effortlessly dreamy yet shimmering with swirling guitar effects, the song is the perfect contusion of anxious nerves and thick, distorted, abandon. Two singles in and Widowspeak's Expect The Best has become one of our most anticipated records.

5. DEERHOOF | "Come Down Here And Say That" (feat. Laetitia Sadier)

Deerhoof and Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier are a match made in experimental pop heaven. Full of funk, dreamy electronics, art-rock, and indie charm at its most groove indebted, the pioneers of expansive pop come together to give that turd in the White House a piece of their minds. Blending the best of both their worlds (Deerhoof's frantic post-punk and Sadier's warm retro-futuristic synths), the song calls out the cowardice of politicians and their "cracker jack dreams". It's a blissful pairing, combining perfectly to create something both fun and thought provoking, the fusion of two exceptional forces in the most natural of lights.

Further Listening:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (July 31st - August 6th)