Street Eaters

Street Eaters are a loose garage punk duo with a stripped-down musical approach that psych-out the current minimalist, post-something shoegaze trend to sound refreshingly spirited. With their girl/boy, vocals/bass/drums set up and California cool, drummer Megan March and bassist Johnny Geek confidently deliver a comfortably paced six songs that, at times, resemble the so-called cuddlecore of Vancouver's Cub ("Blackwater") and in blasts, the strong melodic pop punk growl of another western Canadian punk band, Carpenter ("I Am the Running Dog"). The shout-along, one-word choruses stay intact throughout, but as the EP nears its end, the typically trebly bass grinds some of the pop sheen into a sludgy paste, as the contrasting styles merge best on closing track "I Never See You Around." Though key to their sound, the girl/boy dynamics leave a little to be desired on the harder Johnny Geek side of things, but on "Elephant in the Room," March holds her own over a low-and-slack Sleater Kinney, Woods-ish dirge, adding another dimension to the young, unaffected attitude that makes We See Monsters noteworthy.