There are very few bands in the known universe that you can say draw upon such varied influences as
the Stooges,
Hawkwind, and
Can. But the Brooklyn, NY trio, Naam, certainly fits the aforementioned bill. On their self-titled 2009 debut, the group issues a vintage-sounding offering that manages to include elements of stoner rock, garage rock, and psychedelic star-gazing. Think of
Monster Magnet's early work, and you're not far off from what these lads sounds like. Like all good stoners, you get an obligatory never-ending, mammoth track -- "Kingdom" -- which in this case kicks off the album (and starts with nearly five minutes of swirling wind sound effects). Elsewhere, you'll find a track that sounds like
Mudhoney's Mark Arm fronting the aforementioned
Monster Magnet ("Skyling Slip"), while quite a few unmistakably
Sabbath-y grooves appear throughout (especially in the middle of "Icy Row"). Unlike other stoner metal acts that appear content to play the same riff for minutes on end through a bong-smoke haze, Naam offers enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. ~ Greg Prato