Track By Track: Ripship's New Album 'Crawling Chorus'

Pōneke-based sci-fi rock psychonauts Ripship aka Rae McLean and Callum Lincoln stick the landing with their second studio album Crawling Chorus, out today following SRN chart-topping lead singles 'Debugger' and 'New Mexico'. Recorded and mixed by James Goldsmith with mutagenic cover artwork by Matt Fisher (Sexual Youkai), McLean generously gave us the inside scoop on every single track on their multi-dimensional new creation. Smash play on Crawling Chorus, order the vinyl LP edition HERE, read onwards and go catch the duo playing launch shows with friends across Aotearoa this summer...

Ripship Album Release

Saturday 8th February - San Fran, Te Whanganui-a-Tara w/ Wiri Donna, Sleeping Village Quartet performs songs from The War of the Worlds, Twin Peaks + more
Saturday 15th February - Whammy Bar, Tāmaki Makaurau w/ Mullbrain, Community Treatment Order*
Friday 28th February - The Crown, Ōtepoti w/ Dale Kerrigan, Bunchy’s Big Score*

*Tāmaki Makaurau & Ōtepoti tickets on sale HERE via UTR

1. 'Chrome'
Chrome was inspired by Spongebob episode SB-129, wherein Squidward is trapped in a freezer and awakens to a bizarre world in the distant future. Maybe it’s also about feeling lonely and out of your depth after moving somewhere new, and finding appreciation for the friendships left behind.

2. 'New Mexico'
We wanted this song to contrast heavily with Chrome, picking up more frantic pace and opening out into a harsher, wider soundscape. New Mexico is the birthplace of modern alien conspiracies (Area 51, the Roswell incident), and this track is a drug fuelled road trip through the enigmatic desert.

3. 'Bon Voyage'
 Loosely inspired by one of my (Rae) favourite pieces of science fiction, What football will look like in the future, this is a love / breakup track, sung from the perspective of the Voyager II probe as it leaves the solar system and slowly loses communication with earth. It’s a story about falling out of contact with people who were once a part of your daily life.

4. 'Debugger'
Inspired by Starship Troopers, this is a jar-headed declaration of war against insects: a satire of the American war machine. The group vocals are done in the style of a military running cadence; we got our friends to come sing with us after hours at Music Planet in exchange for beers and pizza.

5. 'Who Likes Magic?'
A satanic panic constructed using audio samples from a Jehovah’s Witness propaganda cartoon.

6. 'Ever Dream This Band?'
We came up with the phrase as a potential marketing gag years ago, inspired by the internet horror copypasta “Ever Dream This Man?”. Later we wrote a 9/8 groove and this madness-inducing “Hey Ya Da Da” lyric to help keep track of the time signature changes, then just tried to stretch the dream-like recursive horror to its most extreme conclusion.

7. 'Utopia'
A new-agey psych rock tune about crash landing on a highly advanced alien planet. Inspired by old school pulp sci-fi, which was always weirdly horny. We might have to re-release this one pitched down to 432 Hz for spirit healing purposes.

8. 'Caribou'
A search engine obsessed with serving you what it thinks you want, like a stalker or toxic lover. Stick around for a New Mexico reprise: Callum and James Goldsmith (who recorded and mixed the album) just couldn’t let it die.

9. 'The Ending'
A message from my future self who did nothing about climate change.

'Crawling Chorus' is out today on major streaming platforms, order the vinyl LP edition HERE.