Grifters, The Eureka ep (10" EP)

By 1995, it seems the "lo-fi" trend was dying out (until it reemerged 14 or 15 years later). Eureka dates from the end of an era. It occasionally sounds like it's fighting against a tide (of a dying style), but it generally stands up well. Many of the songs are strong, and the weird harsh Chrome textures that made the Grifters special still peak out. It sounds murky but cool—Doug Easley's mixes both preserve and downplay the primitive cassette 4 track sound. The pictures on the packaging are both unsettling in their content and formally beautiful.