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This Sunday Wooden Shjips will perform their first ever D.C. gig at the Red and the Black. And I’m at a loss for words—mostly because I’ve typed them all already. Well, all of the hippy-dippy ones, at least. Looking back at these two reviews (1,2), I realize that I’ve pretty much burned through my repertoire of stoner-jokes, psychedelic adjectives, and then some (a Harry Dean Stanton reference?) in trying to convey the reasons why I like this San Francisco-based space-rock quartet. Hey, at least I never trotted out “face-melting.”

So let’s maybe ditch the lysergic cliches for a minute and get down to the facts about Wooden Shjips:

  • Some of Wooden Shjips’ songs are very long. Also, they often include guitar solos.
  • Wooden Shjips have a few songs that sound like The Doors. However, it has been proven, scientifically, that these Wooden Shjips songs are superior to most (but not all) songs written by The Doors.
  • Guitarist/vocalist Ripley Johnson has a very intimidating beard (I cannot guarantee that he will have the beard at the show).
  • Wooden Shjips frequently release physical records, yet press them only in limited quantities (around 500-600 copies). Thus the band is in the enviable position of having its records be constantly in demand, despite the group’s relatively limited popularity.

That is all.

Wooden Shjips w/ Black Whales, Buildings
Sun., 10/25 @ The Red and the Black
9 p.m. $8
1212 H Street, NE