Recommended by us on 2nd October 2009
...according to our Brian on Thu 01 Oct, 2009.
After lambasting those Wooden Shjips and their rotting bows and decaying hulls since I was first subjected to their largely boring ouvre, I scoffed at the ridiculous travesty of one of them having some sort of "solo" career. What's that gonna entail then? A solitary 2 note bassline looping for nigh on 10 minutes? Erm I was a bit wrong and now with the new Moon Duo EP 'Killing Time' on Sacred Bones shaking the office, i've gotta eat humble pie a little. It's repetitive alright, opening with the stunning self titled lead track, the relentless primitive 60's Motown-esque beat grounding a blurred echoed vocal whilst guiding this hollow wail of harrowing, fuzzy distortion that simply renders the tune sound quite stunning, eerie, claustrophobic & dystopian, like a Phil Spector production fed through the heart of a holocaust. 'Speed' possesses a juddery, nihilistic seedy bent with heavy nods to the hypno-sleaze overload of Suicide, the beat remaining a metronomic 60s flecked pulse whilst walls of sneering overloaded organ pulse & grind away like the soundtrack to some psychedelic orgy. More mellow edged lo-fi motorik psych beginning the flip slide that sounds quite Neu-ish, concluding with 'Ripples' a hazy mid 70's Komische style slice of desert baked chill-out that'd sound even better after a Peyote & Mescaline shake & a large doobie - but after the blistering shellshock of the opening track you're just nodding along obliviously with a spannered, lopsided smile on yr face. Most impressive but Business Lady wants to know where he's thieved all his drum tracks from.....Ltd 12" onlySide A:
1. Killing Time
2. Speed
Side B:
1. Dead West
2. Ripples
Moon Duo is a project of Wooden Shjips guitarist and singer Ripley Johnson. Under the Moon Duo moniker, Johnson and collaborator Sanae Yamada create expansive Krautrock influenced tapestries of warm cascading fuzz and controlled feedback, organ, and accenting keyboard. This four song 12-inch is the second release and incorporates a much more concise, composed and driving sound than before. The Duo expand on ideas only hinted at on the Sick Thirst 12-inch (which is already long gone) adding a driving drum machine beat behind the thick walls of layered sound. Don’t sleep on this one.
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