Athens, Georgia duo Eureka California channel the slacker rock sound of the '90s (Pavement, Butterglory), add the churning guitars of the Wedding Present circa Seamonsters, and inject it with a large dose of melodic post-millennial angst. Formed in the early 2010s by vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Jake Ward and drummer Marie A. Uhler with help from bassist Charles Walker, they released a single, "Modern Times," for hometown label Happy Happy Birthday to Me in the spring of 2011 and also contributed a song ("There's No Looking Back") to a compilation put out by the record store Wuxtry around the same time. In 2012, HHBTM released Eureka California's effervescent debut album, Big Cats Can Swim, bassist Walker left the group, and the now duo returned in 2014 with the equally peppy sophomore LP Crunch, also issued by HHBTM. For their third album in three years, Ward and Uhler traveled to England, working with Matthew "MJ" Johnson from Hookworms at his Suburban Home Studios. The resulting Versus was the band's most powerful-sounding effort to date, with overloaded guitars and very insistent vocals to the fore. They next released a single, "Wigwam," in 2017, then headed back to England to work once again with Johnson. Like Versus, 2018's Roadrunners relied on Ward's blown-out guitars and Uhler's reliably strong rhythmic attack, and was also released on HHBTM. ~ Tim Sendra