Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Rose City Band – Summerlong

 

Rose City Band – Summerlong

By

Jesse E. Mullen

 

You’ve led a critically acclaimed psychedelic rock band for 13 years. You’ve played at All Tomorrow’s Parties festival and supported Sonic Youth on tour. But what happens when you want to conceal your identity?

So was the story of Ripley Johnson in 2019. The guitarist and songwriter had led the acclaimed band Wooden Shjips for over a decade. But Johnson was looking for something different. And he wanted to do it in secret.

Johnson wanted to make music in the style of American Beauty-era Grateful Dead. But he wanted to keep his identity disguised. So, he devised the plan of forming Rose City Band but not mentioning his name anywhere in the credits for their debut album.

That album, 2019’s eponymous Rose City Band showed Johnson’s knack for hazy slowcore, but also hinted that he had much more to offer. So, when the follow-up Summerlong arrived in June of 2020, fans were clamoring for what Johnson could offer next.

The album opens with the gentle country rock of “Only Lonely.” Over a skipping guitar lick and a country beat, Johnson describes a lazy Sunday in Portland, OR. He’s longing for romantic attention but seems content with lounging around. It works wonderfully as the soundtrack to those early summer days where the days are still getting longer, and the sun shines till 8 o’clock at night.

“Empty Bottles” is even more laidback. Johnson plays a descending slide guitar lick, as John Jeffrey slowly drums along. The sound and effect recall what Dean Wareham and co. were doing on Lunapark, Luna’s first album from 1992. But the outro jam also recalls what Wilco were doing circa 2007 with Sky Blue Sky.

Clearly not satisfied with simply aping The Dead, Johnson instead weaves all of his influences into a musical tapestry. This is record collector music for indie kids who came of age in the 1990s and 2000s. But it also has great potential to appeal to their elders.

The albums’ centerpieces are the extended jams of “Wee Hours >” which – as bootleg collecting Deadheads will know by the “>” – transitions into epic closer “Wildflowers.” The two tracks add up to 11 minutes, roughly a quarter of the album.

A steady drumbeat, and tight ascending rhythm guitars allow for plenty of fretboard fireworks from Johnson, as the tracks speed past the five-minute-mark. It’s easy to imagine these tracks being played to a blissed-out crowd on the summer festival circuit.

But perhaps “Floating Out” is the melodic highlight of the album. Dreamy droning guitars surround Johnson’s vocals, evoking the feeling of both Luna and Spiritualized. The slow drums add to the ambiance and give the composition a great sense of space – as well as feeling like it is floating in space.

However – at the risk of invalidating my entire review – in depth analysis is almost counterintuitive to music like this. It is better to zone out and let the jams run from. Thus, I can only say that Ripley Johnson’s forays into Grateful Dead-influenced rock were a rousing success, and a highlight of his own legendary career.

Thrill Jockey/2020

 

 

 

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