Eureka California – Wigwam (7″)

In just under a year since releasing their last album “Versus,” Eureka California are back with a new single,  “Wigwam.” The band had a set plan in mind when going into the studio: get in and knock it out and release a single to hold over ‘til recording the next full length. With “Versus” they went overseas to the UK and recorded at Suburban Home, but for “Wigwam” they decided to record here in their hometown of Athens, Georgia, with Dave Barbe (Sugar / Mercyland / Dave Barbe & the Quick Hooks) at his Chase Park Transduction Studio. Wasting no time, they recorded and mixed the single in one afternoon. A single on a tight budget, three tracks in under 8 minutes, hand-decorated sleeves — everything about this is economical. Eureka California have two brand new tracks, “Wigwam” and “Only Birds (No Feathers)”, and a cover of Superchunk’s “Slack Motherfucker.”

Both the band and their label HHBTM Records wanted to make a statement with this single. The current trend is labels charging upwards of $7 for singles — they are bringing the 7” pricing back down to reality and selling the single for $3 direct and hopefully no higher than $5 in stores (can’t really control how stores mark up records). By recording, mixing, and mastering in one session, and by  getting creative and DIY on the sleeve both, band and label can let them sell for roughly cost. There was a time when labels used singles like an advertisement to get people to buy the full length album. A promotional item. No one really thought of singles as something you do to make money. So, not only did HHBTM make the single $3, but went back and marked all their back catalog singles down to $3 as well.