Wooden Shjips
Self-titled
2007

If you download one song, download: "We Ask You to Ride."

Whenever I put on this five-song EP, I just go right out to lunch. I remember the first time I listened to it. I was sitting in the corner at the Amazing Grace cafe, editing photos on my laptop and listening on my headphones. When the EP ended, I sort of jolted out of my trance. I'd completely forgotten where I was, and it was like the music hypnotized me for 45 minutes or so and I was totally absorbed in what I was doing.

It wasn't an anomaly, because it seems like this happens every time I listen to this EP. An obvious Wooden Shjips comparison would be the Doors -- the vocals sound very much like Jim Morrison's, though heavily reverbed and echoey. The bass lines are extremely repetitious, playing against the spacey, fuzzed-out guitars and Hammond organ. There's no jazz influence here though; this is pure psychedelia. The shortest song on the EP is 4:57. The longest clocks in at 10:18.

If you want a taste of what Wooden Shjips has to offer, go to their MySpace site and listen to "Clouds Over Earthquake" or "Loose Lips." They're a little slower and dreamier than the stuff on their self-titled EP (which I personally like better), but it's still damn fine music.