Albums to watch

West

Wooden Shjips

West

Latest album from the San Franciscan psychedelic group, this time recorded in a "proper studio."

ADM rating[?]

7.3

Label
Thrill Jockey
UK Release date
15/08/2011
US Release date
13/08/2011
  1. 9.0 |   AU Review

    Expect Wooden Shjips to pip Moon Duo and Josh T. Pearson in end of year polls. Exceptional
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  2. 8.3 |   Beats Per Minute

    Heavy, lyrically well-tread and packing a mean proto-motorik groove, from start to finish it has an automotive heartbeat with both eyes on the horizon
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  3. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    Ripley Johnson’s outfit remains very much not of this time
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  4. 8.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    One of only a tiny handful of bands currently using retrospective influences from the past to create something relevant and unique for the present and beyond
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  5. 8.0 |   Clash

    A remarkably dense, intense affair
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  6. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    It's the unrelenting power of the two-chord drones, though, that is the real draw here
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  7. 8.0 |   BBC

    Here finally is a psychedelic audio experience with sufficient focus and momentum to ‘take you there’ without dozing off on the job
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  8. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Clarity becomes them, offering Shjips' hallmark rhythmic snap a heightened impact. Print edition only

  9. 8.0 |   The Quietus

    Sees the band stepping up their game in every aspect
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  10. 8.0 |   The Digital Fix

    West is quite clearly the band's finest hour yet
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  11. 7.5 |   A.V. Club

    Wooden Shjips is the rare act that actually sounds like it originates from the late ’60s and early ’70s, perhaps because the group has an affinity for the same blues and R&B music their heroes had
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  12. 7.3 |   Pitchfork

    The band is very much doing what it does on West
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  13. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    Wooden Shjips shoot straight into that barely circulating heart of rhythm and blues and reopen a vein of noise that it is difficult not to pump along with
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  14. 7.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    All told, West might repel listeners with short attention spans, but with a bit of patience, its coherence pummels any monotony
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  15. 7.0 |   Bowlegs

    There’s a relentless energy to this album, with blankets of distortion and chimes of organ music on a burnt out trip
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  16. 7.0 |   NME

    It's impossible not to bow down to West. Print edition only

  17. 7.0 |   Blurt

    The Wooden Shjips are the real deal, and West gets about as good, and as far out, as it gets
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  18. 7.0 |   Prefix

    And like any good road trip, Wooden Shjips songs are much more about the journey than the destination
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  19. 6.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    Wooden Shjips seems to be lost in time, wandering back and forth, hopping from year to year in a defective time machine without finding a place and time of their own
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  20. 6.0 |   Uncut

    More rock music should be this reduced and addictive. Print edition only

  21. 6.0 |   Q

    They're getting better and better at saying the same thing. Print edition only

  22. 6.0 |   Rave Magazine

    Like side-project Moon Duo, the record lacks a sense of identity
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  23. 6.0 |   The Independent

    Drugs may have been involved
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