Rose City Band

★★★★ Earth Trip THRILL JOCKEY. CD/DL/LP

Moon Duo/Wooden Shjips wizard Ripley Johnson’s lonesome adventure.

Johnson’s sublime space-rock has often been anchored around binary opposites: on Moon Duo’s Occult Architecture

(2017), Vol. 1 explored nocturnal/daemonic themes, Vol. 2 sunnier/transcendent moods. Where Summerlong, last year’s second solo outing as Rose City Band, conjured JulyAugust joys in a warm sonic glow created during winter 2019’s relative optimism, this third one inevitably reflects 2020’s bleaker outlook. Silver Roses opens with the bittersweet vibe of CSNY’s Helpless, complete with mournful lyrics (“Bluebirds flyin’/I’m so alone”) and Barry Walker’s tear-jerking pedal-steel. While autumnal gems like Rabbit chime with recent months’ universal experience of isolation and inertia,

Earth Trip also mirrors the salvation many have found in nature (In The Rain; Lonely Places), its gentle, J.J. Caleesque country-rock tempos evocative of restorative rustic rambling. Though introspective and downbeat, Ripley characteristically ends on a high, as Dawn Patrol’s nineminute exploration brings new horizons and, yes, hope.