If you’ve never heard San Francisco’s GRASS WIDOW, right now would be a good time to dig into their amazing discography. What you will find is some of the most visionary post-punk and imaginative inverted pop of the past 20 years, showcasing three talented artists with distinct sonic personalities truly collaborating and fusing into a unified whole. They achieved a perfect synergy on 2012’s brilliant Internal Logic, and then quietly went on indefinite hiatus sometime in 2013. Since then, all three members have continued with new musical projects, which include drummer Lillian Maring’s surreal pop outfit RUBY PINS as well as bassist Hannah Lew’s COLD BEAT.

Debut single “Worms” (from the 7″ single available on Lew’s label Crime on the Moon) starts with echo-y angular guitars and blasts into a frenzied reverbed chorus that is anchored by Lew’s understated vocals. Punctuating Lew’s vocals in the verses is guitarist Kyle King’s echoed shouts, contributing to a more dreamy and disorienting vibe. The track exudes the prominent Wire influence of GW’s last album, but this time warped in a cavernous production that makes the otherwise straightforward attack seem much more ominous and surreal. From enlightening and insightful interviews with the always eloquent Lew, “Worms” turns out to be about an image that she couldn’t get out of her head following her father’s passing: that of worms eating his corpse. The video, directed in part by Lew, presents a series of seemingly disjointed images in various blacks and grays to perhaps more subtly express this morbid undercurrent. The image of dancing high-heeled feet reminds us that, yes, this song’s buoyant energy is unrelenting and it’s time to hop around. See more of Lew’s music videos here and look out for more coverage of COLD BEAT and other related projects from the GRASS WIDOW camp on this here Hassle in the coming weeks.

P.S. COLD BEAT’s new single from their upcoming LP Over Me (out July 8th on Crime on the Moon) can be streamed at their Soundcloud NOW. Get even more psyched!