by Dan Goldin (@paintingwithdan) and Pat Pilch (@apg_gomets)
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.
ALDOUS HARDING
“Venus In The Zinnia” (feat. H. Hawkline)
Every Aldous Harding song gets better with repeat listens. No matter how much you like it on first impression, it’s only going to get better. “Venus in the Zinnia,” the second single from her highly anticipated new album, Train on the Island (due out May 8th via 4AD), is a relatively straight forward indie folk song, but it’s the little touches that cement themselves ever deeper in time. Joined by H. Hawkline (who has played in Harding’s band since 2017), the pair work layers into the gentle acoustic framework of the song, wrapping the melody into tight and twangy resolves, chugging along as the sun shines down to their close harmonies, crumpled synths, and the soft jangle of the percussion. There’s a call and response quality to the chorus that sits like art pop glue on your mind, a gorgeous refrain that balances the dreamy nature of the Harding’s swooning verses with a sense of hooky immediacy. “Venus in the Zinnia” is warm, breezy, kaleidoscopic, and utterly at ease. - DG
CORPUS OFFAL & UNDERGANG
“Split”
In the lead up to the release of Corpus Offal and Undergang’s monumental tour split, Extremely Rotten Productions first described the bands as “chunk blowers” and “offal manglers” only later to describe them as “pus-gurglers” and “sewage curdlers,” and if that doesn’t give you a chuckle I don’t know what to tell ya. Two of modern death metal’s finest bands (currently on tour together in Europe) have teamed up for a dense and disgorged split delivered straight from the putrescent bowels of all that’s unholy. Corpus Offal’s new single “Epitomic Disembowelment” is a lumbering and serpentine dose of perpetual disgust, a song that chews through flesh and bone with grinding dexterity and a mountainous sense of fluid momentum. The pounding rhythm and sinewy guitars slip and slide around like a wave of entrails. It’s amazing, it’s gross, it’s side A of a soon-to-be iconic death metal split 7”. On the reverse side, Copenhagen’s Undergang up the levels of fetid decay as though it were a challenge, a slab of tempo-shifting bile and nuanced destruction. “Maddikehavets dans” is the band’s first single since 2023’s impeccably primal De Syv stadier af fordærv, and Undergang prove once again why they’ve risen to top of the festering heap. With the grossest gurgling introduction you’re likely to hear, the band’s onslaught comes stampeding with feral low end and an aural depravity that oozes forward amid tempo changes that feel disgustingly natural, an evolution of rot.
EDGING
“This Head”
Over the past three years or so Chicago’s Edging have become a live fixture of the windy city thanks to their propulsive blend of saxophone assisted post-punk and noise rock, the sound perhaps more charismatic than it is overly visceral. With exaggerated personality to spare, the band are set to release their third full length album, Unload Your Shame, on June 5th via Hex Records (Knub, Wipes, Gaytheist) and the band’s own Dick Jail Records. “This Head,” the record’s lead single is an immediate burst of energy and hooks, a shout along anthem that feels destined for beer soaked live shows. Built on strong melodic riffs and mid-tempo pacing, the band howl into radio friendly punk rock territory (think Amyl & The Sniffers, who they happen to be supporting this summer) while retaining their squealing sense for layered sax chaos. All that and the video has a pill popping puppet! - DG
HYPER GAL
“Our Hyper” LP
Osaka-based duo HYPER GAL was introduced to western audiences back in January 2024, finding their home on left-field noise label Skin Graft Records. Our Hyper is their third record for the Midwest imprint, finding HYPER GAL doubling down on the dynamics of their relentless no wave pop. HYPER GAL’s practice in noise is both cathartic and hypnotic. Their music makes dizzying revolutions around buried melodies, flipping the standard pop formula inside out. Remember the muscular diagram in science class? That’s the kind of pop music HYPER GIRL make; flayed, visceral, and entirely unmasked. With Our Hyper, visual artist Koharu Ishida (vocals) and noise artist Kurumi Kadoya (drums) have made their most authentic record yet. - Pat Pilch
LEAH SENIOR
“Mothersong”
“Mothersong,” the latest single from Melbourne’s Leah Senior is both gorgeous and heartfelt and an undeniable ripper. Set for release on her upcoming album Pt. Roadknight, due out June 19th via Third Eye Stimuli (Australia) and Spinster Records (US/UK), the psychedelic folk song opens with a tangled and prismatic guitar line that feels pulled from the late 60’s Canterbury scene. With a beautiful sense of arid atmosphere and rolling flutes, the song was written by Senior to alleviate concerns in a friend who was becoming a first time mother, the lyrics providing a sense of comfort while the music adds a sense of wonder to it all. It’s a beautiful and impossible process where unknowing is okay when love is at the center. With folk-tinged nods to prog’s softer and more fantastic era, Leah Senior and frequent collaborator Jesse Williams, deliver something beautiful and powerful, a composition that floats in the air before it digs into the earth. The video, directed by Senior, also has a super cool puppet. - DG
ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER
“Hot Head” (feat. David Yow) (Captain Beefheart cover)
Sometimes the personnel of a record really says all you need to know, perhaps that’s why Bill Orcutt (Harry Pussy), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) and Ethan Miller (Comets On Fire) simply called their collaborative project Orcutt Shelley Miller. Enough said, right? Following last year’s great self-titled album, a record that ripped and rumbled between ultra fried psych rock and avant-garde experimentation, the trio return with yet another name that needs no introduction, David Yow (The Jesus Lizard) for a delightful cover of Captain Beefheart’s “Hot Head,” playing it pretty close to the itchy nature of the original with an extra degree of madness and muscle added for good measure. Swirling and stomping on a combustible boogie-down framework, this one is an odyssey in unhinged dirty blues. Once you’ve peeled your brains off the flow, check out the B-side, a cover of Neil Young’s “A Man Needs A Maid” (which finds Miller taking on vocal duties). - DG
SPACEMOTH
“Do We Exist?”
The past four years, starting with the release of Spacemoth’s debut album, No Past No Future, have been busy for Maryam Qudus. While the release introduced the project’s well-crafted cosmic art pop to the world, Qudus also established herself an one of the Bay Area’s most in-demand record producers and engineers. On top of all that, she found the time to join La Luz (whose News of the Universe album she produced) and the years continued in a non-stop run of recording sessions and live shows for both projects. On Inward Eye, due out June 26th via Greenway Records (Primitive Ring, Dead Tooth, Tea Eater), Qudus returns her focus to Spacemoth, developing a psychedelic pop odyssey that’s captured in flickers of the extraterrestrial moments in our waking lives, so to speak. There’s a swirling energy at the record’s core that bubbles and bursts through vintage synths and mesmerizing loops. “Do We Exist?,” the album’s lead single and opening track, is built on a magnetic groove and warbling tape experimentation, gliding and bopping its way into the celestial realm. Dreamy, noisy, and motorik, “Do We Exist?” finds Spacemoth firmly locked in and ready for lift off. - DG
T.F & DJ MUGGS
“Don’t Call Me Lucky” LP
Some things take time. While many rappers drop their definitive masterpiece at the start of their careers, T.F has only been getting better with each successive release. Don’t Call Me Lucky, his tenth album, pairs the Los Angeles MC together with legendary producer DJ Muggs, and the vision feels both complete and complex. It’s a gangster rap record in every way, no question about that, but the varied beat selection gives T.F ample room to flex his street smart bars with a dynamic sensibility and a feeling of heart. Speaking like an OG whose seen it all and sold it all, T.F has lived to tell the tale, presented here in vivid detail. With an unflinching deviance that’s at home with both the Cuban connects and the stove top, T.F is celebrating, rising above the dirt and the penitentiary toward a brighter future. With laser focused guest verses from Ghostface Killah, Rome Streetz, Meyhem Lauren, Boldy James, and Roc Marciano among others, each element of this record feels carefully crafted, a cinematic west coast rap album that takes no prisoners. - DG
WEBB CHAPEL
“Heavy Metal”
Of all the bands orbiting Philly’s much loved DIY underground, Webb Chapel tends to stand out from the pack. You could call them a shoegaze band if you really wanted to, but you probably shouldn’t as the quartet’s latest album Vernon Manner eschews easy categorization. Released via Strange Mono (Liquid Cross, Dog Lips, Moros), the record is a murky mix of amorphous lo-fi, unfolding in a plume of dense basement smoke in ways both beautiful and disorientating. While Webb Chapel began as Zack Claxton’s solo project it’s expanded line-up offers with a true radiance (a deeply hazy radiance), allowing the band’s sonic swirl to move freely in all directions. “Heavy Metal” is one of the many stand-outs, a gentle and haunting dose of psych-tinged dream pop led by bassist/co-vocalist Rachel Gordon. While built on slow dripped progressions and a lulling melody, the band let chords sustain under the glow of Gordon’s softly engaging harmonies. - DG
YOUBET
“Undefined”
With the upcoming release of their third album, youbet have given themselves room to explore, an opportunity to take dynamic chances. The band’s self-titled album, due out May 1st via Hardly Art (Chris Cohen, Lala Lala, Shana Cleveland) is explosive in all the best ways, transforming itself to meet Nick Llobet and Micah Prussack where they’re at, tranquil one moment and bursting the next. It’s crafted with subtle shifts (that leave large impacts) and intricate textures at every turn but most importantly, the album gives the songs a chance to breath. “Undefined,” the record’s third single slinks in the pocket, a blissed out reflection of the band’s gracious art rock at its best. Llobet’s winding melody is stunning, moving with a languid ease as the rhythm shuffles and the guitars melt. With hints of twang, psych, and a bass groove that’s downright soulful, youbet are blurring lines in a way that feels natural, an extension of their ever progressing sound. It’s brilliant songwriting that pops like sunspots through a rainy window, caught in passing moments and blurred visions. - DG
Further Listening:
APRIL 06 - APRIL 12:
BAD STUFF “Summer Girls” | BODY TYPE “And What Else?” | CHONCY “Bypass” | CRAIG WEDREN “Ready For Time” | CROCODILES “Time Is Wasting Me” | CS CLEANERS “What’s That?” | DARI BAY “We’re Gonna Be Okay” | FATBOI SHARIF & CHILD ACTOR “Night Terrors” | ICEAGE “Ember” | LABRADOR “The Rosy Red World” | LOOSE FIT “Bittersweet Excess” | MARBLED EYE “Something’s Different” | MONO “Winter Daphne” | MUTILATION BARBECUE “Flesh Regenerated” EP | MY WIFE’S AN ANGEL “Lil’ Bug” | NO PEELING "Stationary" | OTOBOKE BEAVER “I Don’t Need To Be In Your Strike Zone” | ROSCO P COLDCHAIN “On The Radar Freestyle” | RUNO PLUM “Pink Moon” | SAVAGE PLEASURE “Chambers of Filth…” EP | SEASON 2 “Tugging at the Cable” | SLIPPERS “Fool In Your Room” | SUNFORGER “30” | TASHA “Summer” | THEE SACRED SOULS “Any Old Fool“ | THOMAS DOLLBAUM “Coyote” | TV STAR “The Package” | YLEISET SYYT “Saitte Mitä Halusitte”
APRIL 13 - APRIL 19:
BILLIAM “Open Comma Vault” LP | COLA “Skywriter’s Sigh” | DEERHOOF “Deerhoof & The Sound Sanctuary” EP | EEL MEN “Glass Hammers” | FAKE DUST “Substance Abuse Lifestyle” | GOES BOINK “Hand” EP | GOLOMB “The Beat Goes On And On And On” EP | GROUPIE “Swan Song” | GUN OUTFIT “Teardrops (Classic Hell On Earth)” | JALEN NGONDA “Hang It On The Shelf” | JAY WORTHY & 9TH WONDER “I Can’t Relate” | KLONNS “Parasite” | THE LIBRARY IS ON FIRE “(it’s interference)” (feat. Mike Watt) | LUPO CITTÀ “To The Last Look” | PARTS & LABOR “Endless Cycle Pts. 1 - 4” | POPE “Sick Minute” (feat. Julia Steiner) | PRIMITIVE RING “Lies From The Other Side” | ROSALI “Other Side” | STINGRAY “Black Milk” | SUICIDAS “Cantemos” + “Senderos” | TOUCH GIRL APPLE BLOSSOM “I’m Lucky I Found You” | WAXAHATCHEE “Where’s Your Love Now” (This Is Lorelei cover) | WIDOWSPEAK “No Driver”