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Rating:

2007 marks a very busy period for the San Francisco quartet Wooden Shjips. Hot on the heels of their two 2006 championed vinyl releases, Shrinking Moon For You and Dance, California, the band had released another strong vinyl EP, entitled Summer Of Love ’07. Now, they have officially released their self-titled debut on Holy Mountain and it is a fine album. (It should be worth noting that the first 2000 copies of this release come with a limited edition second cd containing their first two out of print vinyl releases. For that reason alone it is a must, those first two vinyl releases are not only phenomenal but also long out of print).

The guts of the band: guitarist-singer Ripley Johnson, organist Nash Whalen, bassist Dusty Jermier and drummer Omar Ahsanuddin, have continued to wet their listeners appetites. Wooden Shjips is a woozy, hypnotic monster of droning guitars, caveman beats, eerie keyboard melodies and sleepy hushed vocals. The album contains five tracks of pure droning bliss that swoons in a fierce, trance-like rhythm; which is both overwhelming and evocative.

Songs like “We Ask You to Ride” and “Losin’ Time” chug and hiss primitively before white shards of guitar noise sear your ear drums. Whalen’s organ shifts nonchalantly between fuzzed out spookiness and dirty boogie. “Blue Sky Bends” is all grimy swagger. Ahsanuddin and Jermier’s chunky rhythms sway coolly while Johnson takes off on a spaced out lingering guitar jam with subtle organ flourishes.

The rest of the year appears to just as busy for the Shjips, with a few singles planned on Sub Pop and more shows popping up left and right. It is safe to say that these Shjips are moving to bigger waters and after listening to this album, it’s easy to hear why.

Reviewed by: Alex Herter

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