Dos

The shrieking, psychedelic noise-rock of Les Rallizes Denudes looms large in underground circles, and no band takes after their formula quite so much as Wooden Shjips. Every song on latest release Dos revolves around the pulsing groove of the rhythm section, made up of drummer Omar Ahsanuddin and bassist/vocalist Dusty Jernier, with impressively-bearded guitarist Erik Johnson's tripped-out guitar keeping things relatively fresh, and the organ of Nash Whalen fleshing out the sound. It's no 77 Live, but there's enough psychedelic goodness there to keep me reasonably interested. So it's a shame, then, that when I saw the band recently, I was disappointed. This sort of spaced-out, droning rock should work great in a live setting, yet seeing these songs played from the stage exposed the flaws in Wooden Shjips approach. The guitar lacks the crackling, buzzing sound needed for the extended solos to work, Erik Johnson instead plumping for an overly bassy tone that all too often becomes an indistinguishable blur. Things admittedly weren't helped by a mix that made the guitar inaudible for the first half of their set, but it made it painfully clear that apart from the waves of guitar, there's not all that much to Wooden Shjips. The band are content to ride the same backbeat for entire songs, and although this is great on shorter tracks, when the band break the 10-minute mark, as on Down By The Sea and Fallin' it's a test of anyone's patience. It's not that the formula itself is a bad one, it's that Wooden Shjips haven't found the best way to work with it. This is music that should be a wild, noise-rock freakout, and too often the band sound too safe. And it really is a shame, as Wooden Shjips are genuinely a pretty good band when they get it right. Previous one-off single Loose Lips/Start To Dreaming was a strong cut, the band building a hypnotic groove over the two tracks without overstaying their welcome. However, it seems the band can only write two decent songs at a time, as Dos manages to pull off a great opening one-two before falling off into tedium. For So Long in particular rolls along on a catchy, danceable groove, and for once Erik Johnson's guitar doesn't sound like sonic soup, giving off a sharper tone that cuts through the stoner sludge of his bandmates. But as soon as we hit Down By The Sea, it's all starting to sound a bit familiar, and once the band have lost your attention they'll never get it back. It's odd that a band who should be able to write perfect psych-rock jams lose power over lengthy periods of time, but there you go. What we have on Dos then, is a collection of songs by a talented, promising but ultimately frustratingly inconsistent band. However, it's an album that seems to be garnering the band a fair bit of attention, indeed, playing just before godfather of psych-rock himself, Roky Erickson at the festival where I saw them. Hopefully the band will use the opportunity to really refine their sound, and make the record they're certainly capable of. Best of luck to them, and let's hope they can evolve being a niche band for psychedelic die-hards.