Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Wooden Shjips: Enigmatic As Ever

Here’s what you’re supposed to do if you want to make it as a rock band: Record with big-name producers, build an online presence, tour constantly, work with the most buzzed-about record labels, partner with trendy corporate sponsors, look attractive in your photo shoots, and last but not least, play the kind of music the kids want to hear.

San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips hasn’t just ignored these guidelines, they’ve turned them on their head. In fact, guitarist and bandleader Ripley Johnson put the band together in 2003 as an experiment to see if nonmusicians could play the kind of music he liked — mysterious, minimalist rock influenced by psychedelia and krautrock — better than people who could actually play. Eventually, through lineup changes and experience, the band became proficient with their instruments, but they continued to defy convention at nearly every turn. They avoided MySpace, and when they did release their first material, it was only available on ten-inch vinyl — and they gave away all their copies. This potentially disastrous move ended up earning them reviews in Rolling Stone and other outlets, and soon demand grew.

Sponsored
Sponsored

So did the band’s output. Wooden Shjips has put out dozens of singles and EPs over the past few years, on a variety of labels — some of them for charity, all of them hard to find. Many of these singles are on two compilation albums. Today, Wooden Shjips’ releases are getting easier to find, they’re touring more regularly, and they’re online, but their music is as enigmatic as ever.

The Night Beats also perform.

WOODEN SHJIPS: The Casbah, Saturday, August 20, 8:30 p.m. 619-232-4355. Free show.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

20 Best Online Casinos USA For Real Money (2024 List)

USA Online Casinos: Top 20 Online Casino Sites of 2024

Here’s what you’re supposed to do if you want to make it as a rock band: Record with big-name producers, build an online presence, tour constantly, work with the most buzzed-about record labels, partner with trendy corporate sponsors, look attractive in your photo shoots, and last but not least, play the kind of music the kids want to hear.

San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips hasn’t just ignored these guidelines, they’ve turned them on their head. In fact, guitarist and bandleader Ripley Johnson put the band together in 2003 as an experiment to see if nonmusicians could play the kind of music he liked — mysterious, minimalist rock influenced by psychedelia and krautrock — better than people who could actually play. Eventually, through lineup changes and experience, the band became proficient with their instruments, but they continued to defy convention at nearly every turn. They avoided MySpace, and when they did release their first material, it was only available on ten-inch vinyl — and they gave away all their copies. This potentially disastrous move ended up earning them reviews in Rolling Stone and other outlets, and soon demand grew.

Sponsored
Sponsored

So did the band’s output. Wooden Shjips has put out dozens of singles and EPs over the past few years, on a variety of labels — some of them for charity, all of them hard to find. Many of these singles are on two compilation albums. Today, Wooden Shjips’ releases are getting easier to find, they’re touring more regularly, and they’re online, but their music is as enigmatic as ever.

The Night Beats also perform.

WOODEN SHJIPS: The Casbah, Saturday, August 20, 8:30 p.m. 619-232-4355. Free show.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

20 Best Online Casinos USA For Real Money (2024 List)

USA Online Casinos: Top 20 Online Casino Sites of 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.