Eureka California

Here we go again. Yet another band doing that whole ’90s thing; revivalists for a culture they were barely old enough to notice in the first place. More photocopies of a photocopy of a photocopy. Rough edges now faded to a thin, lifeless facsimile. The product of a generation with so little to say that it’s taken to slavishly imitating the generation that made a virtue of having nothing to say.

No wait, sorry, wrong review. Fuck, I should stop typing before listening to the record, right?

Well, ok, there’s a definite whiff of the 20th century’s final decade about Eureka California – specifically the clattering super-shonk of acts like Guided By Voices and Pavement – but the lines are far from greyed-out. Big Cats Can Swim is wide-screen, high-definition magnificence; brightly cheerful and thrillingly instant. The product of kids who know there’s no new shades on the spectrum, but are determined to have a blast mixing the colours.

It helps that they’re not limited to that decade. There’s a McCartney-esque melancholy to the swirling, ominous psych-folk of ‘My Kind Of Battery’, while tracks like ‘I Will Control The Nation’ could be kissing cousins to the ongoing deluge of surf-inflected noisepop bands with “beach” in their names (you know who I mean). Their sense of history goes deeper than the roots of indie rock, but there’s certainly a place for them in the zeitgeist, if they want it.

Eureka California have two major pluses going for them: hooks galore and an infectious air of FUN to every single one. ‘My Boy, Black Metal’ rides roughshod over a gently pretty melody, while singer Jake Ward snarks affably about church-burning and make-up. Then there’s the joyfully knock-kneed ‘Bite By The Sand’, which takes Built To Spill’s way with a woozy guitar line and bowls it awkwardly into an echo chamber.

The highlight, however, is the kinetic immediacy of ‘The Day No Trains Ran’: the band make like a stripped-down Olivia Tremor Control covering Archers of Loaf’s ‘Might’, powered simultaneously by the purposeful drumming of Marie Uhler and a shared energy that drizzles down from the speakers, straight into the listener’s feet. Ward hollers “it was a ticker-tape parade,” and the overall effect is so goddamn euphoric you can practically feel yourself in the motorcade; innumerable strips of paper clouding your vision whilst gently caressing your skin. Heroic. Triumphant. Wonderful. It’s the sort of trick you wish pop music would pull off more often, though it rarely does.

Sure, it’s indebted to things that have gone before. But Big Cats Can Swim works precisely because it doesn’t just pull from a single strand of “classic” indie rock. Instead, Eureka California blow affectionate kisses in the direction of their favourite ’90s acts whilst blissfully painting pictures that may look familiar, but are very definitely their own. One of the most enjoyable albums of 2012. - The Line of Best Fit

Here we go again. Yet another band doing that whole ’90s thing; revivalists for a culture they were barely old enough to notice in the first place. More photocopies of a photocopy of a photocopy. Rough edges now faded to a thin, lifeless facsimile. The product of a generation with so little to say that it’s taken to slavishly imitating the generation that made a virtue of having nothing to say.

No wait, sorry, wrong review. Fuck, I should stop typing before listening to the record, right?

Well, ok, there’s a definite whiff of the 20th century’s final decade about Eureka California – specifically the clattering super-shonk of acts like Guided By Voices and Pavement – but the lines are far from greyed-out. Big Cats Can Swim is wide-screen, high-definition magnificence; brightly cheerful and thrillingly instant. The product of kids who know there’s no new shades on the spectrum, but are determined to have a blast mixing the colours.

It helps that they’re not limited to that decade. There’s a McCartney-esque melancholy to the swirling, ominous psych-folk of ‘My Kind Of Battery’, while tracks like ‘I Will Control The Nation’ could be kissing cousins to the ongoing deluge of surf-inflected noisepop bands with “beach” in their names (you know who I mean). Their sense of history goes deeper than the roots of indie rock, but there’s certainly a place for them in the zeitgeist, if they want it.

Eureka California have two major pluses going for them: hooks galore and an infectious air of FUN to every single one. ‘My Boy, Black Metal’ rides roughshod over a gently pretty melody, while singer Jake Ward snarks affably about church-burning and make-up. Then there’s the joyfully knock-kneed ‘Bite By The Sand’, which takes Built To Spill’s way with a woozy guitar line and bowls it awkwardly into an echo chamber.

The highlight, however, is the kinetic immediacy of ‘The Day No Trains Ran’: the band make like a stripped-down Olivia Tremor Control covering Archers of Loaf’s ‘Might’, powered simultaneously by the purposeful drumming of Marie Uhler and a shared energy that drizzles down from the speakers, straight into the listener’s feet. Ward hollers “it was a ticker-tape parade,” and the overall effect is so goddamn euphoric you can practically feel yourself in the motorcade; innumerable strips of paper clouding your vision whilst gently caressing your skin. Heroic. Triumphant. Wonderful. It’s the sort of trick you wish pop music would pull off more often, though it rarely does.

Sure, it’s indebted to things that have gone before. But Big Cats Can Swim works precisely because it doesn’t just pull from a single strand of “classic” indie rock. Instead, Eureka California blow affectionate kisses in the direction of their favourite ’90s acts whilst blissfully painting pictures that may look familiar, but are very definitely their own. One of the most enjoyable albums of 2012. - The Line of Best Fit

Not from the Golden State, Eureka California hail from Athens, GA, where a flourishing music scene still produces some fine music. With their debut LP, the trio delivers a definitive statement of disenchantment that adds to the annals of great bands from that Southern college town.

The songs on Big Cats Can Swim are short and to the point with no need for grandiose filler, much like The Ramones. There’s a lot of fuzz, a la early Jesus and Mary Chain, though the tracks more rooted in Nuggets garage rock without sounding derivative. Actually, it’s an updated garage for modern frustrations, with a hint of Wipers-like doom sneaking through the tunes.

As an impressive beginning, Big Cats Can Swim tells of some greater music to come. I’ll be waiting. - Big Takeover

Not from the Golden State, Eureka California hail from Athens, GA, where a flourishing music scene still produces some fine music. With their debut LP, the trio delivers a definitive statement of disenchantment that adds to the annals of great bands from that Southern college town.

The songs on Big Cats Can Swim are short and to the point with no need for grandiose filler, much like The Ramones. There’s a lot of fuzz, a la early Jesus and Mary Chain, though the tracks more rooted in Nuggets garage rock without sounding derivative. Actually, it’s an updated garage for modern frustrations, with a hint of Wipers-like doom sneaking through the tunes.

As an impressive beginning, Big Cats Can Swim tells of some greater music to come. I’ll be waiting. - Big Takeover

Garages were meant for rocking. And that’s just what Eureka California will do. One of these days Eureka California is going to come rock your garage for you. That turned out much better than I expected it to when I started writing it. Yet another Athens-based duo (two’s company, three’s a crowd?) that is well worth spending some time with during this festival, EC like to celebrate the finer things in life; pizza, swimming, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and cats. Party on. - The Blue Indian

Garages were meant for rocking. And that’s just what Eureka California will do. One of these days Eureka California is going to come rock your garage for you. That turned out much better than I expected it to when I started writing it. Yet another Athens-based duo (two’s company, three’s a crowd?) that is well worth spending some time with during this festival, EC like to celebrate the finer things in life; pizza, swimming, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and cats. Party on. - The Blue Indian

Eureka California hail from Athens, Georgia, but have named themselves after a town in California. This trio look to the currently popular 90's indie rock scene for inspiration and sprinkle their hooks with a little supergrass and pixie dust. I kind of wasn’t sure about this record at first but its nerdy grittiness has endeared it to me. - The Finest Kiss

The Greek word “Eureka” (which means “I have found it”) was made the official California state motto in 1963. The motto refers to the discovery of gold in California. Archimedes, the famed Greek mathematician, is said to have exclaimed “Eureka!” when he discovered a method of determining the purity of gold. The Athens, GA band, Eureka California, recently released a 7? EP on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records. Today we have the song Baby, I’m Your Garbage Man by Eureka California. - Tullycraft Nation

The ongoing, homemade Series Two Records project out of Nebraska will include a song by local artist Jake Ward, who performs under the name Eureka California on the label’s upcoming five-disc indie-pop compilation. Ward himself has some reservations as to whether his music can be qualified as indie-pop, and I’m here to say that yes, it can. It takes all kinds. Dig his music over at www.myspace.com/eurekacalifornia. - The Flagpole - Gordon Lamb

Fans of sweet pop should head to the Flicker Theatre & Bar on Friday, Oct. 10 for a free show featuring Newt Barnes, Favorite Cousin (which is composed of Christopher Ingham and Elizabeth Hargrett), Jake Ward’s new project Eureka California, and Werewolves which feature Wyatt Strother (My Greatest Heist) and Daniel Powell. There is a slight chance you also know Ward from his role in The Complete Adventurer, but maybe not. Please note that this is the first show for everyone except Favorite Cousin, so leave your rotten vegetables at home and dig the indie pop-ness. - The Flagpole - Gordon Lamb

What can you say: this guy loves Britpop. If you had to chart Eureka California on a Blur timeline, Ward's solo material would definitely fall towards the latter end of Blur's career, sharing more in common with the darker, complex layers of Blur or maybe Think Tank than the playful cheekiness of Parklife. Basically, Ward's solo project is an homage to the way Britpop sounded once people like Graham Coxon became fans of American indie rock like Pavement. So, it's more than fitting that he names all of the above as touchstones. The guitarist and vocalist for local band The Complete Adventurer started this project in August of this year. Right now it's a solo venture, but he seems open to expanding the lineup in the future. In fact, Ward says he'll be releasing a single soon under the name Eureka California that features three songs with a full-band treatment. Even though the Flicker show will be Eureka California's first, you can already hear the tunes online at www.myspace.com/eurekacalifornia. - The Flagpole - Michelle Gilzenrat

Unbeknownst to me when I opened this package with artwork that looks like it was done by Calvin Johnson’s little brother, that contained within was intelligent, well crafted hard and heavy pop songs, the kind that you don’t hear too often in this day and age. Sounding like the lovechild of Superchunk and a non-political The Desaparacitos, Eureka California comes from left-field for a home run on their debut. I hope to be hearing more from this band in the future. - Workerbee Records

What can you say: this guy loves Britpop. If you had to chart Eureka California on a Blur timeline, Ward's solo material would definitely fall towards the latter end of Blur's career, sharing more in common with the darker, complex layers of Blur or maybe Think Tank than the playful cheekiness of Parklife. Basically, Ward's solo project is an homage to the way Britpop sounded once people like Graham Coxon became fans of American indie rock like Pavement. So, it's more than fitting that he names all of the above as touchstones. The guitarist and vocalist for local band The Complete Adventurer started this project in August of this year. Right now it's a solo venture, but he seems open to expanding the lineup in the future. In fact, Ward says he'll be releasing a single soon under the name Eureka California that features three songs with a full-band treatment. Even though the Flicker show will be Eureka California's first, you can already hear the tunes online at www.myspace.com/eurekacalifornia. - The Flagpole - Michelle Gilzenrat

Sit down to dinner with Eureka California and dine on thunder storms and receding tides. This is chain saw melody that sings of the end times, with quiet vocals that compliment and calm the maelstrom. Think Hum meets Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The bass and delayed guitars run side by side through corridors of perfect percussion, rising and falling, swirling like snow, dissolving into beautiful codas that stick with you for days – the songs Death listens to on his day off. This privately released album, which is a true steal at $5, is available for listen on myspace or purchase through dionysus.ward@gmail.com, and promises an amazing live show should you get the chance. - The Secret Admirer

This album is clearly homemade, giving it endearing charm and dirty cymbals, which sometimes blend perfectly with crunchy guitar and bass, and sometimes not. This is basically a rock endurance record, and you are not meant to sit idly by while such outragings as these unfold; you are not meant to contemplate subtleties of syncopation or obscure tonal quotations. Suggestions point toward neck flailing.
Though the band obviously has a vision and enough talent to further it, these recordings don’t exactly flatter their compositions. There are some intriguing and well-executed pop-punk songs here, and the drumming is bestial, but the cymbals are a little too dirty in the mix to really allow full access to the music’s nuances. It’s annoying to focus on the mediocre parts of the product rather than the graciousness with which I aim to receive artistic gifts (as this album is available for free online now!), but an earnest critique is the offering of thanks.
The album’s standout moments, such as the guitar vamp “Cat Got Yr Tongue,” provide a pleasant break from the frenetic pace of the album’s overall grunge/punk assault and challenge the band melodically and temporally. “Milwaukee” is probably the best candidate for a radio hit with its tuned percussion, deep pockets and focused arrangement. Album-closer “Perfect Grammar” starts cleanly enough to reveal some pleasant Lou Reed-ish character in the vocals, which is a bit harder to detect in earlier tracks. The band sort of sounds like a mixture of Hum and Queens of the Stone Age, and I’ll certainly be checking them out live when I get a chance—for a drumming clinic at the very least. - The Flagpole

Sit down to dinner with Eureka California and dine on thunder storms and receding tides. This is chain saw melody that sings of the end times, with quiet vocals that compliment and calm the maelstrom. Think Hum meets Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The bass and delayed guitars run side by side through corridors of perfect percussion, rising and falling, swirling like snow, dissolving into beautiful codas that stick with you for days – the songs Death listens to on his day off. This privately released album, which is a true steal at $5, is available for listen on myspace or purchase through dionysus.ward@gmail.com, and promises an amazing live show should you get the chance. - The Secret Admirer

With a name like Eureka California, you'd think we'd stumbled across some happy bubble-gum pop band. Yeah, forget all that. Names don't mean anything anymore. Think dirty, fuzzy pop with some flair and flail and the odd experimental touch. That's Eureka California.

I wondered why this band sounded so familiar. Turns out that it's the reincarnation of the Complete Adventurer. The duo of Jacob Ward and Wyatt Strother (Werewolves, Horse Party, and a ton of other bands I like) makes for a pretty fierce musical onslaught. Hell, they list Robyn Hitchcock, Blur, and Superchunk as influences! At least toss some indie points their way!

E.C. is releasing it's first album Eureka California is Dead on December 30th at Flicker. Check the link to the myspace for a sneak preview. - Athens Music Junkie

Jake Ward is an Athens musician: he moved to town in 2007 and started a band three weeks later.

"The Complete Adventurer existed for about a year," he said. "I just got tired of being in this mewithoutYou band and wanted to do something different."

Out of the ashes of The Complete Adventurer rose Eureka California. The band is a Britpop-influenced two-piece that eschews perhaps the most ubiquitous subject matter of art in general.

"None of the songs are about love," he said. "My two biggest influences are Blur and The Smiths, and even though they wrote about love, I like that they have songs about day-to-day life and other frustrations besides not being someone's sweetheart."
Ward wrote the first Eureka California song, "Milwaukee," in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C., before the band existed.

"I started Eureka California because I wanted to do something more poppy and melodic," he said.

"Poppy" does not imply simplistic. Song structures are surprising and the band is constantly finding new ways to perform, partially due to its personnel changes. The band expanded to a five-piece at one point, but has since been cut back to just Ward (guitar and vocals) and Wyatt Strother (drums). Ward also plays bass in Strother's venture Werewolves.

"We became friends but were in separate bands," he said. "We have the same sense of stupid humor and we just work together and play together."

Ward, an agriculture economics major by day, is working on an album due for release in the foreseeable future.

"Hopefully all the recording will be done in November, and if I get some colored pencils today then hopefully I can do the artwork," he said. - Red and Black

With a name like Eureka California, you'd think we'd stumbled across some happy bubble-gum pop band. Yeah, forget all that. Names don't mean anything anymore. Think dirty, fuzzy pop with some flair and flail and the odd experimental touch. That's Eureka California.

I wondered why this band sounded so familiar. Turns out that it's the reincarnation of the Complete Adventurer. The duo of Jacob Ward and Wyatt Strother (Werewolves, Horse Party, and a ton of other bands I like) makes for a pretty fierce musical onslaught. Hell, they list Robyn Hitchcock, Blur, and Superchunk as influences! At least toss some indie points their way!

E.C. is releasing it's first album Eureka California is Dead on December 30th at Flicker. Check the link to the myspace for a sneak preview. - Athens Music Junkie