Wooden Shjips might be described as psychedelic rock, but they also could be described as just about anything else. This kind of ambiguity railroads them into a certain jam-ridden sound sometimes. This is as much the case as ever on V., beginning with the quiet opener, “Eclipse”, and the faster video single, “Already Gone”.
V. could be described to little surprise as peaceful, but perhaps also as “rebellious peace”, which explains why most people don’t know who Wooden Shjips are. Sure, the drums rock in the catchy “Golden Flower”, and the sound is always reminiscent of classic psychedelic Pink Floyd, but they are a little too vague, wearing their psychedelic, jam band, and perhaps hippy drug band badges all on the same sleeve.
What V. does well, it does really well, relaxing on “Staring at the Sun” and grooving on slow “Red Line”, and slower “In The Fall”, all the while jamming. It ends with a kind of church hymn dug trip hybrid in “Ride On”, which picks up at the three-minute mark. The thing is, with all the relaxing nature of V., and inserting obvious album title peace reference, it does not even outdo the previous releases, let alone, the current psychedelic Wand, heyday Pink Floyd, or the great Wooden Shjips side project Moon Duo. V. is interesting and probably great live, but nothing more.
