California X seem like the kind of dudes you wouldn’t want to lend your gear to. Sure, you’d get everything back in one piece, but the knobs and levels would be all kinds of fucked up and it’d take you half a day to straighten out the aftermath of whatever squirrely sonic experiments they’d conducted. You might end up with some pretty neat tones, though. This young Amherst, MA quartet likes to go heavy on the distortion and bury their upbeat riffs under waves of fuzz, a tendency that is handily amplified by engineer Justin Pizzoferrato of Dinosaur Jr. on the band’s upcoming new album. For a bunch of Massholes, California X sound awfully sunny. It’s light, catchy music for sunny days and late nights, but here’s some serious grungy grit lurking between the garage rock clamor and rousing power pop hooks.California X’s sophomore album Nights in the Dark is primed for a January 13 release via Don Giovanni Records, who also released the band’s eponymous debut back in 2012. Grab some decent headphones and plug on it, because we’ve got the title track right here.Pre-order the physical copy from Don Giovanni or from iTunes.
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