Contact

Hoisting sonic sails and venturing into the galaxy, San Francisco space-rockers Wooden Shjips kick off this lengthy two-song EP with a cosmic cover of the 1968 Serge Gainsbourg song “Contact” (which was then sung in French by Brigitte Bardot). In typical Wooden Shjips fashion, this version is five minutes longer than the original. It begins sounding a bit like an unearthed Spacemen 3 recording, with waves of vintage guitar distortion undulating over an old psychedelic organ as the rhythm section keeps a heartbeat pace. Under this, Ripley Johnson whisper-sings some barely intelligible lyrics (also in French), mixed low to not compete with the other instruments. The following “I Hear Vibrations” first surfaced on the b-side to Wooden Shjips’ seven-inch single for their 2010 U.K. tour. This is a different recording of that song: a bit slower and noticeably heavier. Spanning nearly eight and a half minutes, it’s built on a krautrock (by way of Hawkwind) mantra of pulsing bass, warbling organ drones, lysergic wah-wah guitar, and Johnson’s minimal singing enveloped in oceans of reverb.