On their eponymous debut album, Wooden Shjips have pulled off one of the key psych releases of 2007. The band succeed at sounding rooted in the acid-tinged rock experiments of the '60s and '70s without ever coming across as kitsch or laboured. There's a near-unobtainable authenticity to the band's sound that proves their devotion to the cause - these guys aren't just aligning themselves to some passing fad. The first thing that strikes you is the tightness of the rhythm section, sounding like a cross between vintage Can and The Doors on opener 'We Ask You To Ride'. By the time the frazzled guitar solo drops into this one, you'll be hooked. Establishing a heavier groove, 'Losin' Time' checks the same boxes, throwing in a reedy organ part to double the main riff while slapback echo annihilates the vocal. The spatial mixing is resolutely old-school too, with all the drums coming out you out of the left speaker on 'Lucy's Ride', another classy krautrock workout buried in spot-on psych effects and languid wah-wah guitar explorations. A mightily impressive first album from a band who are quite rightly on the receiving end of some very favourable attention right now, heck they've already been collared by Sub Pop for a 7" and it's still early days for these guys. Highly recommended.
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On their eponymous debut album, Wooden Shjips have pulled off one of the key psych releases of 2007. The band succeed at sounding rooted in the acid-tinged rock experiments of the '60s and '70s without ever coming across as kitsch or laboured. There's a near-unobtainable authenticity to the band's sound that proves their devotion to the cause - these guys aren't just aligning themselves to some passing fad. The first thing that strikes you is the tightness of the rhythm section, sounding like a cross between vintage Can and The Doors on opener 'We Ask You To Ride'. By the time the frazzled guitar solo drops into this one, you'll be hooked. Establishing a heavier groove, 'Losin' Time' checks the same boxes, throwing in a reedy organ part to double the main riff while slapback echo annihilates the vocal. The spatial mixing is resolutely old-school too, with all the drums coming out you out of the left speaker on 'Lucy's Ride', another classy krautrock workout buried in spot-on psych effects and languid wah-wah guitar explorations. A mightily impressive first album from a band who are quite rightly on the receiving end of some very favourable attention right now, heck they've already been collared by Sub Pop for a 7" and it's still early days for these guys. Highly recommended.
On their eponymous debut album, Wooden Shjips have pulled off one of the key psych releases of 2007. The band succeed at sounding rooted in the acid-tinged rock experiments of the '60s and '70s without ever coming across as kitsch or laboured. There's a near-unobtainable authenticity to the band's sound that proves their devotion to the cause - these guys aren't just aligning themselves to some passing fad. The first thing that strikes you is the tightness of the rhythm section, sounding like a cross between vintage Can and The Doors on opener 'We Ask You To Ride'. By the time the frazzled guitar solo drops into this one, you'll be hooked. Establishing a heavier groove, 'Losin' Time' checks the same boxes, throwing in a reedy organ part to double the main riff while slapback echo annihilates the vocal. The spatial mixing is resolutely old-school too, with all the drums coming out you out of the left speaker on 'Lucy's Ride', another classy krautrock workout buried in spot-on psych effects and languid wah-wah guitar explorations. A mightily impressive first album from a band who are quite rightly on the receiving end of some very favourable attention right now, heck they've already been collared by Sub Pop for a 7" and it's still early days for these guys. Highly recommended.