Naam and the Literal Connection
Blown out psych rock trio Naam are a solid fit for the younger end of the Tee Pee Records roster — a lineup perhaps spearheaded by Earthless and fortified by the likes of Weird Owl, Ancestors and The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound. On their label debut EP, Kingdom (available this spring as a limited edition vinyl and digital release), they present three echoing tracks of blissful sub-retro fuzz, taking a semi-hipster aesthetic — one imagines a given show in their native borough of Brooklyn to have ridiculously priced drinks — and opening the airlock to launch it into the reaches of uncharted space. At about 11 minutes per side, it’s an EP in the grand tradition of not giving too much away, but it still provides a solid understanding of what the band, to date, are all about.
Aside from being ordered shortest to longest, “Skyling Slip,” “Fever if Fire” and the closing title track each present varying degrees of the same mentality. “Skyling Slip” is faster, riffier and the most heavily reverbed of the three, sounding like a faster cut on the first Witch record or something undiscovered from 1973 not yet given in to tape decay. On the other hand, “Fever if Fire” begins at such a pace that, in listening for the first time, I thought Naam might just call the whole thing off and go get a snack. Fortunately for the rest of Kingdom, they didn’t.
Guitarist/vocalist Ryan Lugar contributes a barrage of feedback noise to “Fever if Fire” beginning around 2:20 in, while drummer Eli Pizzuto maintains hard hits on the crash cymbal and bassist/vocalist John Bundy keeps the central riff going so that when the song comes back out of the short jam at 2:45, the transition is smooth and exciting at the same time. The speed picks up toward the end of the song before ultimately slamming to a close, and when “Kingdom” begins quietly, it’s clear the silence is meant to be felt just as much as the music back on side A.
“Kingdom” is 11:41 and goes from a sparse, windswept opening with an evolving jam to, at 4:26, an all-out stoner rock boogiefest, still reverbed — especially in the vocals — but more straightforward than anything yet presented. The next transition, about a minute and a half later, sets up a movement so much in the vein of Om-plus that I was convinced at any moment Lugar and Bundy were going to expound on the horizon and/or their unitive knowledge of the godhead.
The song (and EP) closes with a riff larger than the production allows to be properly conveyed but in the end marks Naam as a welcome addition to Tee Pee and to the scene at large. I’ve no doubt they’ll find favor among the tight pants/tight flannel crowd, at least until next month’s flavor is revealed, but there’s plenty on Kingdom that makes the coming full-length worth looking forward to for actual human beings too. Tee Pee again walk that line and again find themselves on the right side of it.
Tags: Brooklyn, Naam, Tee Pee
