You can take the guitarist out of Wooden Shjips, but you can’t take Wooden Shjips out of the guitarist….
San Francisco’s Ripley Johnson from the aforementioned Wooden Shjips, along with Sanae Yamada, trade as Moon Duo and release their third long player Shadow of the Sun. Similarities with WS back catalogue are inevitable, however there are some subtle differences too.
What is constant is the droning and somewhat hypnotic repetitive nature of the tracks, however where WS are somewhat single minded in this approach, Moon Duo shed some lightness in on the dark, and even indulge in the occasional chorus.
Opener Wilding could have been lifted from WS’s last album Back to land, all fuzzy guitars, pounding psychedelic beat and keyboards, but the production is somewhat clearer and gives the overall impression of an upbeat mood.
Second track Night Beat continues in the same wonderful vein with the same repeating beat and structure almost hypnotising in its nature. 6 minutes doesn’t feel long enough for this track.
First surprise on the album come from In A Cloud, which is as light and fluffy as the name suggests and almost gives a welcome change of pace and mood to the album. Gorgeous.
The second surprise for me come with penultimate track Ice, which I could almost imagine baring out of some club in Torremolinos this summer…
The nine track album is wrapped up by urgent new single Animal, the shortest track on the album at just 2 minutes.
So this is an album that may polarise, if you a fan already of Wooden Shjips, what’s not to love, however if you prefer the more straightforward song structure of verse chorus verse, this may disappoint. For this reviewer, another essential album of the year.
Keith @keithsmith4082
10/11
Shadow of the Sun is out now via Sacred Bones