"Dos"
(Holy Mountain)
eight / ten
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WOODEN SHJIPS "Dos" (Holy Mountain)
eight / ten |
The much talked about Wooden Shjips have been both lauded and maligned in equal measure lately. Detractors, perhaps spurred on by the irksome, superfluous J in their name, claim they are unoriginal, highly derivative and even musically regressive; and although their comparability to the Doors' acid-rock, Loop's lysergically fried shoegaze, Neu!'s motorik grooves, or even, more bizarrely, to Japan's ultra-obscure, ultra-psychedelic Les Rallizes Denudˇs is striking and undeniable, their strongest advocates say WS' greatest virtue is exhuming the spirit of these great bands and contemporising their sounds.
In fact, more hyperbolic followers have argued that, by stripping the genre of its unnecessary flourishes, they represent nothing short of an epic synthesis of all that has been great in the world of psychedelia, since its inception. But such in-depth analysis essentially over-complicates a very simple sound. There's no need to examine Wooden Shjips' role in the history or development of music because there's no great scheme or retro-futurist concept at work here. Thankfully, they let their music speak for itself, instead of working hard to cultivate an image as a 'psychedelic' band.
Quite simply, this is just a very solid record from a very solid band, particularly badass though they may be. Fortunately for this reviewer, the aforementioned similar artists happen to be four of my all-time favourites, Rallizes & Neu! especially (see "Fallin" for similarities to the latter), so if I close my eyes and imagine Dos as a new release from either band, or unearthed recordings from that era, it can be very rewarding!
Their own or not, the sound they peddle is propelled by relentless and insistent linear grooves. The rhythm section doesn't deviate or over-play, supplying a rock solid foundation for the molten, effects-drenched and sometimes harsh guitar of Ripley Johnson and the Marty Rev-isms of the organ. These elements and Johnson's highly-delayed, highly-detached Mizutani-informed vocals contribute seamlessly to a colourful, collective trance.
But despite their druggy, fuzzy hooks becoming more mesmerically groovy and their dense drones more alluringly catchy, their formula hasn't changed much since their last album. It wasn't broken and they didn't fix it. Unfortunately this kind of attitude will polarise fans even more, but expect to see this topping more so than footing many end-of-year charts nonetheless.
Keefe Murphy
www.myspace.com/woodenshjips
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