"Tight-wound repeato psych guitar raunch with spoony (maybe even imaginary) percussion, surprisingly Rev-like keys, and vocals buried under burning driftwood." -- Byron Coley, The Wire
Wooden Shjips (that's not a typo) is a vital and refreshingly inspired quartet from San Francisco playing loud rock 'n' roll in a style heavily influenced by the experimentalism of psychedelia, classical minimalism and garage rock excess. Starting as an experiment in rhythmic primitivism and group improvisation, the current line-up brings a more structured rock approach to its performances, utilizing a traditional lineup of drums (Omar Ahsanuddin), bass (Dusty Jermier), organ (Nash Whalen), guitar (Erik "Ripley" Johnson) and vocals.
Their songs sound something akin to the icy garage rock of early Echo & The Bunnymen, but with Kim Salmon of the Scientists as its frontman. There are hints of krautrock, the trance-inducing organ haze of Suicide with Deerhunter style dance-drone, classic desert-fried garage psych all mixed into one explosive whole - Wooden Shjips, the self-titled Holy Mountain debut.
Wooden Shjips released two acclaimed records in 2006, beginning with the self-released 10" EP Shrinking Moon for You, which sold-out after capturing the attention of well-regarded tastemakers, such as Tom Lax and Byron Coley, who penned rave reviews on Siltblog and in The Wire magazine, respectively. The ‘Dance California’ 7" followed on Sick Thirst, and received similar praise from bloggers, as well as from veteran scribe David Fricke in Rolling Stone.
In 2007, the band released a self-titled LP on Holy Mountain and 7"s on Sub Pop and Sick Thirst. Their second Holy Mountain LP DOS was released in 2008.
“Wooden Shjips are from San Francisco, but the concentrated ferocity of the freakouts on their two very-underground releases — a white-label ten-inch EP and a clear-vinyl single (”Dance, California”) — arrives via the Seventies Germanic-guitar lunacy of Guru Guru and the confrontational repetition of VU.” – David Fricke, Rolling Stone
"Hailin from the SF area, Wooden Shjips seem to have their wagon hitched to a post psychedelic/punk damaged Krautrock environ that just not enough people are astute enough to homestead." – Tom Lax, Siltbreeze