West is album No. 3 from San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips, offering up more of the band’s repetitive ’n’ fuzzy psych-rock. Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 (a group that Wooden Shjips often warrants comparison to) did a wonderful job on the album’s production — fuzzed-out guitars are pushed right upfront, the Alan Vega-esque vocals have an echo-y psychedelic presence, and the drums pound continually with an incessant thud (see: “Home”). Opener “Black Smoke Rise” contains a great guitar feedback solo towards its end, and “Crossing” contains a swagger-worthy groove. That said, Wooden Shjips can be accused of being one-dimensional — each track rides a single groove for its duration, usually ending with extended guitar jamming. Sometimes this stretches on for a bit too long, but let’s put it this way: this is a band that knows its sound well, and can be perfectly workmanlike about crafting it.

Both the Shjips and Moon Duo, guitarist Ripley Johnson’s other band, have become increasingly similar in a few respects — notably, both have made more concessions towards producing songs instead of extended jam sessions, resulting in accessibility. So while West brings nothing new (the best song Wooden Shjips have written is still 2006’s “Shrinking Moon For You,” and it’s increasingly likely this will remain so), the accessibility factor may bring in some new fans while the established will have their expectations met.