Album Review: Wooden Shjips - Back To Land

Wooden Shjips' latest, much like The Black Angels' Indigo Meadow, unexpectedly adds a more accessible, almost pop dimension to their previously freaked-out frequencies. The sludgy psychedelics give way to lustrous textures. Bass and drums work motorik rhythms but move beyond mind-numbing repetition to work up a sweat over muscular grooves that bounce. Their usual loose improvisational approach yields to melody and tighter songwriting. Guitarist Ripley Johnson's mellow faraway vocals are haunting and he treats us to guitar solos soaked to the bone in fuzz and distortion. Wooden Shjips are in interstellar overdrive with these utterly gorgeous cosmic rockers.