V.
by Wooden Shjips
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
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  1. Blurt Magazine
    Jun 20, 2018
    60
    The band is tight, and the music ebbs and flows as usual; it just doesn’t go anywhere original. I hope the band will be able to right the shjip on their next effort.
  2. Q Magazine
    May 22, 2018
    60
    [The] sun-flecked sense of bliss is present throughout and halfway through they even drop in something approaching a conventional pop song with the cooling breeze of Already Gone. That lightness of touch is the real revelation here. [Jul 2018, p.118]
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  3. The A.V. Club
    May 25, 2018
    58
    Momentum is lacking throughout much of the record, as comatose tracks like “Already Gone” drone on with little to grab the ear. Thankfully, the band perks up again during the closing stretch.
  5. Dusted Magazine
    May 24, 2018
    50
    Wooden Shjips’ pleasant but toothless music feels insubstantial, if not insipid, in relation to the demands of our unforgiving present.
  6. Exclaim
    May 22, 2018
    50
    V. never rises above space rock, making the album feel like any other '60s hippie/psychedelic record. It's adequate, but when you can easily predict how it's going to play out, you're never left wanting more.

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User Score
6.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. charliequaker
    Feb 23, 2019
    10
    The 5th album from these San Francisco masters of psychedelic dreamland continues on the path of their brilliant 2013 release “Back To Land”.The 5th album from these San Francisco masters of psychedelic dreamland continues on the path of their brilliant 2013 release “Back To Land”. The songs bask in a generally subtle, smooth flow—almost jazzy at times. But the mindset is pure tripped-out bliss. Ripley Johnson’s guitar is heavenly, dreamy—a fluid, otherworldly rocketship floating through the universe on a leisurely voyage to nirvana. It hints at artists like Tom Verlaine, Mike Bloomfield, Bill Nelson, Mick Hutchinson, John Cippolina, Guy Blakeslee. The keyboards and Krautrock-tinged rhythms recall Johnson’s poppier band, Moon Duo. There are similarities to bands such as Psychic Ills, The Black Angels, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Velvet Underground, Spacemen 3, Suicide. “V” rises like a kaleidoscopic peacock on magical wings, extending a visionary optimism to starry-eyed dreamers and seekers of audio euphoria. Recommended.… Full Review »
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