Ripship Release New Album ‘Crawling Chrome’
Wellington psych-rock duo Ripship are back with their second full-length LP, Crawling Chorus. A journey through space, time, and Bikini Bottom, this nine track behemoth is anything but what it seems. Dig beneath the sugary hooks and vocal melodies to reveal wonky polyrhythmic grooves, guitar tones that growl and shimmer, and lyrics that loop in infinite recursion, spelling omens for the end of the world.
Recorded and mixed by Pōneke legend James Goldsmith, each of the nine songs finds its own identity as Callum Lincoln (guitar, synth, vocals) and Rae McLean (drums, vocals) refuse to be pinned to a single sound. The opening track, Chrome, a lament on friendship from the perspective of Squidward Tentacles, nestles into a crackling, cozy room sound. New Mexico, the first single from the album, is a hi-fi, high-energy kraut-rock-romp through Roswell, whose screeching, siren-like guitars invoke a manic paranoia by the end of the track.
Inspired by everything from Spongebob and Starship Troopers to climate change and Jehovas Witness propaganda, Ripship’s Crawling Chorus is an emotionally sincere mosaic of the myriad conspiracy theories, headlines, and apocalypses that bombard our brains in the modern age.
Crawling Chorus is releasing on Feb 7th via the beautiful people at 1:12 Records. It will be available for purchase and streaming digitally, or pressed onto delicious black Bio Vinyl by Holiday Records in Auckland.
