Back to Land (Wooden Shjips) | 3.5/5

SINGAPORE - It’s good to know that psychedelic rock is still alive and kicking in this day and age. Certainly, over the course of their seven year existence, Portland-based Wooden Shjips has done its best to produce an amalgam of the finest that cutting edge ’60s rock had to offer - as the influences of Jefferson Airplane, early The Velvet Underground, The Doors and even The Soft Machine have been clearly evident from a cursory listen of Wooden Shjip’s music. Consisting of strident drumming, repetitive guitar riffs, swirling organ motifs, indistinct mumbling vocals and infectious grooves, the songs on Back To Land are unashamedly retro with almost no concessions to contemporary indie pop tastes. Which means fans of that particular rock epoch will find songs like Back To Land, Ruins and These Shadows difficult to resist.