Local guitar-and-drums duo Eureka California has been our town’s prime purveyor of no-nonsense fuzz-pop for several years, having released its debut, Big Cats Can Swim, a solid collection of hook-driven garage-rockers, via HHBTM in 2012. Now comes the long-awaited and appropriately named follow-up, Crunch (Flagpole review), an even leaner, meaner record, clocking in at 24 minutes and sans one morsel of anything resembling filler. Standout tune “There’s No Looking Back” tumbles and rolls, a pleasant and patent pop intro serving as supreme fake-out, the rest of the song damp and sweaty and fast, the soundtrack to a million basement house shows. “This Ain’t No A-Side” is, ironically, catchy as hell, guitarist and singer Jake Ward giving it his snotty, melodic all, drummer Marie Uhler nearly tripping over her ADD-addled fills.
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