by: post-trash staff
Fuzzy Meadows
by: post-trash staff
Fuzzy Meadows
by Benji Heywood, Dan Goldin, Kris Handel, Matt Watton, 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.
ALLEGRA KRIEGER
“Into Eternity”
“Into Eternity” is Allegra Krieger’s excellent and bold second single from the upcoming Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine. Contrary to the open arms rock of “Never Arriving,” this track is stark and raw, a major key dirge brimming with Krieger’s brilliant, devastating imagery. The songwriter’s melodies have been said to meander, but they’re never superfluous, and “Into Eternity” is the Infinity Machine track to hang onto. Krieger is truly haunting here, as tragic, familiar, and joyful vignettes entwine in the timeline as “we walk into eternity, under nukes, and trees and changing skylines.” - Patrick Pilch
ARTIFICIAL GO
"Pay Phone"
Feel It / Future Shock signees Artificial Go make compact punk for going fast. Their debut full length is out 9/6 and “Pay Phone” is the introduction to the introduction. While they may sound more from across the pond than the city with spaghetti in the chili, the Cincinnati crew keeps it simple and effective, locking into tight grooves occupying the fringes of twee, punk, and pop. “Pay Phone” is goofy and danceable, the kind of punk that might make you hop around on one leg. - Patrick Pilch
COFFIN ROT
“Perverted Exhumation”
Coffin Rot have returned, decomposed and oozing from the venomous death metal depths of Portland. Five years after the release of A Monument To The Dead (and three years since the “Reduced to Visceral Sludge” single), the quintet are set to release their second album, Dreams of the Disturbed, this September via Maggot Stomp. As the title implies, there ain’t nothing wholesome about lead single “Perverted Exhumation,” a brutal and vicious song that’s impossibly heavy and chaotic. There’s an undeniable degree of technicality to the incinerating riffs, but Coffin Rot opt for the more primal side of death metal, keeping interesting without going too over the top. This one is impeccably cavernous, pounding and thrashing between structural shifts like a demon with its many heads chopped off. - Dan Goldin
THE HARD QUARTET
"Earth Hater"
Fans of peak-era Matador indie rock have been graced with a supergroup – The Hard Quartet is Stephen Malkmus (Pavement, SJ, Jicks), Matt Sweeney (Chavez, Guitar Moves), Jim White (Dirty Three, a million bands), and Emmett Kelley (The Cairo Gang, collaborator extraordinaire). The band had been hinting of their existence through Instragram pics of chill, Gen-X coded hangouts and we have their first release, “Earth Hater.” It’s a tight, bluesy number – heavy riffa*ge and a clean-cut rhythm for the verse and a syncopated jaunt for the chorus. Not all of the superfriends have equal weight (White’s drumming is surprisingly restrained), and the tune has Malkmus’ fingerprints all over it. with his unmistakeable vocal stylings and his Jicks-y way of being equally hooky, poetic, arty, and hard. It’ll be neat to see whose orbit is strongest on other tracks. - Matt Watton
KAL MARKS
“Insects”
2022 was a sea change year for Carl Shane, the singer and principal songwriter of Kal Marks. After the previous iteration of his band dissolved, Shane reformed a leaner, meaner version of the band and releasedMy Name Is Hell, the best album of the band’s career. With “Insects,” Kal Marks builds on what worked on the last album—pulverizing drums, feedback-tinged guitars, and Shane’s unmistakable voice—then adds a rump-shaking danceability. The new formula pays off; “Insects” answers the question “what if The Rapture actually rocked?” Mark 9/13 on your calendar, kids. if “Insects” is any indication,Wasteland Baby, the band’s forthcoming concept-ish album about the fear of bringing children into this world, will replaceHellatop the band’s GOAT list.- Benji Heywood
NINA RYSER
"Things I Claim"
Philly’s own Nina Ryser is an eclectic artist. Most well-known as a third of spastic punks Palberta, she has released a small horde of solo music, including the jaunty Paths of Color and last year’s pensive I Miss My Dog. Her new album, Water Giants, while still home-recorded, ups the production value to let her off-kilter, arty songwriting pop. “Things I Claim” manages to find pretty sounds in ugly keyboards and cheap acoustic guitars, buzzing away under Ryser’s understated, reflective voice and a lilting melody. The chorus features harmonies from @’s Victoria Rose, multilayered in weird intervals to rival even Brian Wilson. This is sentimental art pop, reverent but not dour, curiously catchy and uncannily uplifting. - Matt Watton
NYXY NYX
“If You Don’t Laugh, You’ll Cry”
Nyxy Nyx are building their new album in real time, and chances are “If You Don’t Laugh, You’ll Cry” will change by the time I Love My Life is complete. In fact, nothing is ever “complete” with Nyxy Nyx. If you follow closely, you’d have noticed tracks change, sequencings rearrange, and albums disappear, sometimes re-uploaded several months later, but more often never seen again. That’s part of the deal with Nyxy Nyx. Their music can warp your sense of time and reality and make you wonder, “have I been here before?” The band is on a roll and peerless in their active revisioning, so listen to “If You Don’t Laugh, You’ll Cry” before nothing is the same ever again. - Patrick Pilch
PARTY DOZEN
“Money & The Drugs”
Party Dozen were coloring pretty far outside the lines on “The Big Man Upstairs,” a song that leaned closer to their take on shoegaze and dream pop than the massive post-punk and discordant art rock they’ve built a reputation on. As a duo, Kirsty Tickle (saxophone) and Jonathan Boulet (drums), have never shied away from dynamic left turns, evolving in new directions with each successive album. Crime In Australia, the band’s fourth LP continues that evolution, twisting and turning, convulsing and grooving in equal measure. “Money & The Drugs” highlights their more bombastic tendencies, lurching forward from a sludgy density into a manically fried boogie. With warped vocals (shouted through the bell end of the sax) and a shifting tempo, the song is both brutal and brilliant, forever off-kilter as it shakes and squirms into the noise.- Dan Goldin
SIMA CUNNINGHAM
“Your Bones”
Sima Cunningham has already released one of the year’s absolute best records as one half of Finom, but why stop there? Later this month the Chicago based musician is set to release High Roller, her first full length solo album, out via Ruination Record Co. (Hannah Frances, Adeline Hotel, Minor Moon). Steeped in Americana and the artier edges of folk, Cunningham writes with graceful beauty, augmenting heartfelt reflections and introspection with psychedelic touches and dynamic textures. “Your Bones,” the record’s second single is a gentle ode to friendship, built around the idea that sometimes the best thing you can do as a friend is give someone the space they need. “I don’t need to be your hero just to be your friend,” Cunningham sings with a warm strength over finger picked acoustic guitars, finding the acceptance in the song’s gorgeous sentiment.- Dan Goldin
SMILE MACHINE
“Jovial Prick” (Ohmstead Session)
"Jovial Prick" is a unexpected new song from Smile Machine’s Ohmstead Session over at the Puddle Splashers Youtube, and the stripped back in-studio atmosphere highlights the grunge-punk explosion that captures the band in all their live glory. Jordyn Blakely's guitar is right at the fore as it brightly chugs along before exploding into overdriven magnificence and Steve Hartlett's rolling drum fills snap and fire with fury. Blakely's vocals soar into higher registers as Andy Chervenak’s bass bombs away in a blast of power on a relentlessly engaging energy-driven performance. "Jovial Prick" is a taste of new music from Blakely and her cohorts that is really a delightful surprise and an encouraging development that we may be hearing some more new Smile Machine recordings hopefully in the not too distant future. - Kris Handel
TRACE MOUNTAINS
“In A Dream”
On the lead single for their upcoming album Into the Burning Blue, Trace Mountains hit the listener with the cloudy yet beautiful surroundings of "In a Dream". Dave Benton is backed by a drum machine as he layers keyboards with ringing and distorted guitars that will have you drifting in the delightful haze. Benton's lyrics have always had the ability to reach deep into the listener's soul and that is especially apparent on this track as he switches from a smooth relaxed approach to frantically spit verses. He’s a master at crafting special melodies and that is exhibited in droves on this track that swells into a joyous cacophony that will have you moving and swooning along and anticipating more to come. - Kris Handel
ANIMAL PISS, IT'S EVERYWHERE "Beach Song" | A$AP ROCKY "Highjack" (feat. Jessica Pratt) | ASSISTED LIVING "F Hard, B Forever" | BOLDY JAMES & THE ALCHEMIST "Ten Pints" | BOLDY JAMES & HARRY FRAUD "Cecil Fielder" (feat. Tee Grizzley) | THE CARP "Fairview Park Skins" | CHIME SCHOOL "The End" | CHIMERS "3AM" | CHUBBY AND THE GANG “There’s A Devil In The Jukebox” | COLLAPSED SKULL "Dreamless Error" | FRED CRACKLIN + I.O & COLIN FISHER "Split" EP | GOUGE AWAY "No Release" | GUIDED BY VOICES "I Am A Scientist (30th Anniversary Version)" | HOMEBOY SANDMAN "Alchemy" | HUMAN IMPACT "Hold On" | ILLUMINATI HOTTIES "The L" | J.R.C.G. "Cholla Beat" | KING DUNN "Sidewalk Begging" (The Dicks cover) | LINDSAY REAMER "Neccesary" | THE LOX "Tiny Desk Concert" | MARK LANEGAN "Heard A Train" | MAUL "In The Jaws of Bereavement" | MELT-BANANA "Stopgap” | METZ "Live on KEXP" | MJ LENDERMAN "Joker Lips" | MUTANT ACADEMY "Liberation" (feat. Quelle Chris) | NAP EYES "Passageway" | OCEANATOR "Drift Away" | ØKSE “Kdance92“ (feat. Cavalier) | ORANSSI PAZUZU "Valotus" | PEARL & THE OYSTERS "Big Time" | PINK SIIFU "GOT FOOD AT THE CRIB'! VOL.3" | PORRIDGE RADIO "Sick Of The Blues" | RIPPED TO SHREDS "Perverting the Funeral Rites, Stripping for the Dead" | RUAH "Shane" (Liz Phair cover) | SAVAGE PLEASURE "Savage Pleasure" LP | SCOUT GILLETT "Closer" | SHOVE "King Diamond" | SLEEPER'S BELL "Road Song" | SPIRAL XP "Luna" | STYROFOAM WINOS "Don't Mind Me" | SUUNS "Overture" | UNDEATH "Brandish The Blade" | VERITY DEN "Household Changes" | WISHY "Just Like Sunday"
