Guitarist Ripley Johnson's Wooden Shjips juxtaposes '60s San Francisco's mellow choogle with the Velvet Underground's narcotic drone. The Bay Area quartet's long-form minimalist riffing, understated vocals and no-frills percussion were all in place on its 2006 debut EP's eight-minute title track, "Shrinking Moon for You". Further refinement produced the hypnotic "Motorbike" and "Looking Out", a clarified and relatively spirited version of Johnson's initial impulse. He adds a baleful lyricism to his soloing on 2013's "Back to Land".