Rose City Band - Summerlong - Vinyl LP

You’ve led a critically acclaimed psychedelic rock band for 13 years. You’ve played at All Tomorrow’s Parties festival and supported Sonic Youth. But what happens when you want to conceal your identity?

So was the story of Ripley Johnson in 2019. The guitarist and songwriter had led the acclaimed Wooden Shjips for over a decade. But Johnson was looking for something different. And he wanted to do it in secret.

Johnson wanted to make music in the style of American Beauty-era Grateful Dead. But he wanted to keep his identity disguised. So, he devised the plan of forming Rose City Band but not mentioning his name anywhere in the credits for their debut album.

That album, 2019’s eponymous Rose City Band showed Johnson’s knack for hazy slowcore, but also hinted that he had much more to offer.

Clearly not satisfied with simply aping The Dead, Johnson instead weaves all of his influences into a musical tapestry. This is record collector music for indie kids who came of age in the 1990s and 2000s.