By: David Schultz

In naming their latest album V, New Monsoon may have imparted something more significant than simply numbering their fifth full-length release. Over the past couple years, the San Francisco based band has gone through a series of personnel changes, shedding their percussion section and bringing accomplished bassist Ron Johnson into the fold. The streamlined five (V) man band, singer/guitarist Bo Carper, guitarist Jeff Miller, keyboardist Phil Ferlino, Johnson and drummer Marty Ylitalo (who has since left the band and been replaced by Sean Hutchinson), has not suffered for the changes. Rather, they have a renewed focus and V captures the band playing with a loose yet assured confidence.

New Monsoon keeps V rooted in classic rock without resorting to traditional riffs or repetitious grooves; it marks an appealing step forward for the band. Their bluegrass and Indian raga inclinations are present but only in the faint undercoating. For the most part, New Monsoon lets the music speed along with liberating freedom, road rambles “Water Vein” and “Alaska” being not only V’s loosest moments but its brightest as well. Even though “White Sky Rain,” the disc’s closing attempt at an anthem, doesn’t entirely live up to its epic aspirations, it doesn’t fall too far short of them. The band can play quite tightly too. Miller helps give “Copper Mine” and the reggae-tinged “Neon Block” the same smooth feel as much of Clapton’s Eighties solo material. On the funky-jazz side, Johnson’s bass work and Ferlino’s keys give a refined Steely Dan vibe to “Greenhouse” and “The Other Side”

On the instrumental tracks, like the aptly termed “Romp,” New Monsoon comes alive, working interesting grooves with great prowess and finely incorporating Carper’s banjo, which he plays as a traditional rock and roll instrument instead of a twangy, bluegrass diversion. For “Rattlesnake Drive,” they keep it lively, changing tempos and branching off from their sinuous opening groove into detours that include a nice Pink Floyd/Genesis style prog-rock interlude. “Song For Maria” which features some nice interplay between Miller and Carper, could be a kissin’ cousin to the Allman Brothers’ “Jessica.”

V may prove the adage that what does not kill you makes you stronger. In the wake of significant personnel changes, New Monsoon has come up with an album that can only make you look forward to what comes next.