A 26-minute journey into the recesses of psychedelic groove and mystifying ambience, The Ballad of the Starchild is Naam‘s first release since their 2009 self-titled laid bare their mind-expanding course and began what shows itself here to be an ongoing process of growth and exploration. The five individual cuts that comprise the EP flow together remarkably, and with the apparently full-time inclusion of organist John Weingarten, the trio-turned-four-piece are hitting what sounds like a creative stride, proffering patient, engaging psych rock that’s neither ever fully still nor rushing where and when it doesn’t want to be.

With the 10-minute “Starchild” as the focal point, Naam remind of their past extended works while also moving beyond them in the songwriting. Each track on The Ballad of the Starchild serves a purpose to the overall whole and stands on its own, guitarist/vocalist Ryan Lee Lugar hypnotizing both in tone and his oozing lyrical delivery, bassist/vocalist John Preston Bundy beginning to make his presence more known in the latter regard, and drummer Eli Pizzuto going from complete absence to blastbeats in a staggering show of range that never feels unnatural or forced, providing the foundation from which the melodies of Bundy, Lugar and Weingarten embark on their space-bound launch.

The interplay of keys and guitar is especially central to the track “Lands Unknown,” which also boasts The Ballad of the Starchild‘s most insistent groove, and while it’s unclear whether Naam will follow this release with another full-length or perhaps use it as a starting point for a series of EPs all based around the characters of KISS (which could be, you know, awesome), the variety and balance they bring to their execution here is an excellent show of the growth they’ve undertaken since the full-length. I think it might be Bundy‘s lead vocal during the verse as well, unless Lugar is just shifting his approach some. Either way, you’ll find “Lands Unknown” on the player below, followed by some PR wire-type release info. Please enjoy:

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Celebrated Brooklyn psychedelic rock band Naam will release an EP of brand new material titled The Ballad of the Starchild on May 8 via Tee Pee Records. Recorded in BKLYN’s Galuminum Foil Studios and mastered at NYC’s world famous Masterdisk (Miles Davis, Nirvana, etc.), The Ballad of the Starchild showcases Naam’s most forward-thinking material to date and is the follow up to the group’s 2009 full-length, Naam.

More on Naam at their Thee Facebooks page or on Tee Pee‘s website.

Tags: Brooklyn, Naam, New York, Tee Pee Records

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 at 11:10 am and is filed under audiObelisk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.