Reviews for [RL70]
Eureka California/Good Grief "split"

• Half Gifts
  "Percussive, buzzing chords hold the pop-punk tunes together like corn syrup in a candy bar" Though the Long Island-based label Rok Lok Records is known mostly for its tape releases, when they shell out the cash to press a record you can almost guarantee the bands that appear on it bring something extra to the table. Eureka California and Good Grief, the acts on either side of Rok Lok's most recent split single, both possess a timeless punk quality that's pleasing to the ear, though not so powerful that it distracts from the music itself. The quality they share is warm and slightly grainy, the lovably honest tone attributed to K Records post-punk and late 80's skate video soundtracks. Upon removing the record from its yellow paper sleeve, I first played Eureka California's side of the split. With its jangly guitars, warbly bass and almost forcefully jolly vocals, the band's first offering, "Turn On Autopilot" reminded me of a single by the McTells that I own. If the lovely cover art didn't tip you off, there is plenty of twee influence coursing through the grooves of this record. Injected with some garage-punk force, Eureka California's side is simple, but addictive. Though the band's sound may not be as "full" as that of their split-mates, Good Grief's tracks are even more jaunty than Eureka California's. Percussive, buzzing chords hold the two pop-punk tunes together like corn syrup in a candy bar, leaving a sugary, tingling aftertaste. With sunshiny melodies that could easily be mistaken for Tiger Trap tunes, Good Grief completes a record to play in your rotation of sprightly twee gems.
  
  
  
  
• Get It On Vinyl
  Who doesn’t love a good split 7”? It’s like getting two records in one and always is a great way to discover a new band! So when our good friends at Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records sent us one of their new splits, we knew it would be something great. The split is from Good Grief and Eureka California. Good Grief is an impressive group playing top notch alternative rock, with a real 90?s sound. Their first track “Rusty Nail” features great, clean vocals that are strong without pushing. The song also has a great walking bass line. Their next track, “Another Round,” has some great guitar work and awesome break down at the bridge. On the next side is Eureka California. Garage rock does not get any more authentic than this, and it sounds like it was created right there. “Turn on Autopilot” and “De Sniper” have plenty of fuzzed out guitars and powerful vocals to get you jumping around. This is one of those great bands that you enjoy more every time you listen. The Vinyl A collaborate release between HHBTM Records, strictly no capital letters records, and Rok Lok records, the 7” is pressed on black vinyl with silk screened artwork.
  
  
  
  
• Dynamite Haemorrhage
  Transatlantic pop artifact collecting two tracks from each Athens Georgia's Eureka California and Liverpool England's Good Grief, released by now fewer than three labels across two continents. Eureka California's supremely catchy, stripped down guitar / drums racket gives me a nostalgic rush for all of the similarly-minded scrappy indie rock duos that reigned supreme on college radio during my formative years in the mid 90's and have since been mostly relegated to dusty singles bins in the shadows of the Pavements and Guided by Voices of the world. .....the Crabs, Butterglory, the Spinanes, Guv'ner....anyone (besides me)? On the flip Good Grief are clearly well-versed in digging those same lost gems from Chapel Hill and Olympia showing some obvious affinity for the vintage era of Superchunk's hyper-enough buzzsaw pop, in particular. A total shameless 90's throwback, but at least it's fun - all it's missing is an introduction from Matt Pinfield.
  
  
  
  
• Innocent Words
  Athens, GA indie pop band Eureka California take up right where Pavement left off after Stephen Malkmus realized he didn’t want to get along with anyone any more. Like their fellow 90’s rock obsessives Good Grief, Eureka California have a slacker pop sound that comes off uncontrived, but down right infectious. The pair, each contributing two songs to this split (“Turn on Autopilot” and “DC Sniper” for Eureka California and “”Rusty Nail” and “Another Round” for Good Grief), complement each other well. The Liverpool-based trio Good Grief comes off a little more raucous, but just as contagious. With just a pair of songs each – not a bad one in the bunch – both bands simply leave you wanting more.
  
  
  
  
• NeuFutur Magazine
  Athens, GA indie pop band Eureka California take up right where Pavement left off after Stephen Malkmus realized he didn’t want to get along with anyone any more. Like their fellow 90’s rock obsessives Good Grief, Eureka California have a slacker pop sound that comes off uncontrived, but down right infectious. ecggsleeve The pair, each contributing two songs to this split (“Turn on Autopilot” and “DC Sniper” for Eureka California and “”Rusty Nail” and “Another Round” for Good Grief), complement each other well. The Liverpool-based trio Good Grief comes off a little more raucous, but just as contagious. With just a pair of songs each – not a bad one in the bunch – both bands simply leave you wanting more.
  
  
  
  
• 7inches.blogspot
  This is a great split that brings together two bands thousands of miles apart, Good Grief from Liverpool and Eureka California from Athens, GA. The single also brought together three labels, Rok Lok, Strictly No Capital Letters and HHBTM. I'm glad my previous brushes with Rok Lok had them want to pass this one along as both sides are filling that late 90's indie hole that's been empty for a long time now. A time when keyboards were utterly shunned, you could name the alternative labels on one hand and all it took to be friends was seeing someone crossing the street wearing a Sonic Youth t-shirt. Good Grief's first track, "Rusty Nail" opens in shrieking feedback that slides right into the thick indie chords, to me it's got a Husker Du punk sound through a real pop lens or the sensitive stuff written by Grant Hart anyway. It's got the same guitar focus, the same warping strings into harmonized melded tones. Maybe it's their gritty massive sound or this Robert Pollard vocal, with maybe even some Sebadoh Harmacy in structure. It's got that polish but the sheer velocity and inertia of this plows right through any question of mainstream ambition, the landscape has changed. It's scrappy but really just relying on that speed while being so shiny that it's a single you come across randomly once and they sink their teeth right in. You can hear the camera shaking, shot slow and played back at normal speed, completely dizzying. All of the fourth of july in two minutes. "Another Round" comes on with straight forward jangle that blows up again, deliberately holding back with a great vocal doubling completely different from that first track which now gets into later Husker on me. The guitar here is taking a bit of the back seat and they remain hyper, with some aspects of the Swirlies or later Replacements even. The optimistic, anything-could-happen-today-is-going-to-be-pretty-great, soundtrack. Eureka California's side opens on "Turn on Autopilot" in a similarly huge sound but a little rougher and with more separation in channels, completely different fuzz distortions with a little bit bleeding over into the vocal. They hit on a similar catchy groove and ride it like some kind of spazzy Pavement track. Not garage but fired up indie jammed through static valves, blown out the other side. The same vocal and static party as Times New Viking, a similar underwater plaster texture to this. They aren't trying to question sonic taste as much as this texture just happened during the recording. Towards the end of this the bass really rumbles in on vinyl with major banging on the kick. "DC Sniper" has me thinking these guys sound more like GBV especially in track name, buried vocals and the guitar. Bass and hiss piles up into that turn shoegaze took in the early 2000's? The lessons of shoegaze were turned into faster melodies the way that hardcore started to get faster and faster testing the limits of the genre. Or they just hit all those nostalgic notes for me.