Sacred Bones

Though perhaps the entirely incorrect metaphor to employ in describing an album called Circles, Moon Duo’s second full-length sees the San Francisco psychedelicists turning a corner. Founded by Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson and drummer Sanae Yamada, the pair spends less time surfing the krautbeat and instead come ashore as a fully realized band with fully realized songs. While Johnson’s vocals could still stand to be less submerged in the cosmic fuzz-flow, more than ever, Johnson and Yamada find an accessible poppy pathway through the laden groove-fields. The handclap-abetted “Free Action” plays like a boogie-fried Suicide, “I Been Gone” features an exploding Devo beat, and everywhere, the two tilt uncompromisingly into their jams like the ‘68 Velvets, ready for the world to come.