Oh, goodness. Delta doom with 70s proto-metal production from a band from the Netherlands? Sure, a stoner/psych band from the cannabis capital of the world ain’t much of a stretch (hell, they even come from Tilburg, the city that hosts Roadburn every year), but Yama are so much more than that. I mean, never in one million years could you invent this kind of band in your smoke-addled mind, and yet here they are, the demonstrative figureheads of your living fuzz fantasy. Originally released as a 2011 demo (now out of print), the three songs “Hollow,” “Seaquake,” and “Synergy” have been reissued as the Seaquake EP so those of us who missed out the first time time can now revel in Yama’s throaty, acid-fried downer rock with its swampy Sabbath groove and ghostly, Zep-wrecking effects. I suppose it seems obvious to scream and curse for a full-length, but I’m gonna go ahead an do it anyway at anyone within earshot until it happens because I need to hear more. I hope it happens soon, but if not, I’ll gladly go hoarse for Yama.
Rising from out of the burning coals that is Brooklyn’s red hot rock n’ roll scene, Naam is a psychedelic temptress, a beckoning apparition, whose cross-eyed appeal grows more alluring on their latest, The Ballad of the Starchild. This five-song EP (which can also be found to contain the suffix Movements I-V) is an acid rock journey into the hazy orange aether, a destination experience for mind, body, and soul. Like Emil Amos’ bands all rolled into one, the EP’s first three tracks (“Sentry of Skies,” “Lands Unknown,” “History’s Son”) boast an exotic strangeness and blow holy smoke, while it’s the addition of fourth member John Weingarten on keys, synth, and organ that adds another dimension to the band’s hypnotic pull and carries the heavy, fuzzy load of “The Starchild” and provides the lonely space drift of “End Theme”. The Ballad of the Starchild may not contain the bone-rattling kraut and stoner jam damage that 2009′s self-titled full-length debut did, but it does offer up plenty of transcendent doom bliss and will take you to the furthest of places in less than thirty minutes.
Check out a video of Naam performing (a much shorter version of) “The Starchild” from The Ballad of the Starchild!
The beer n’ bong rock found on American Sharks’ Weedwizard 7″ is over in six minutes (discounting the time it takes you to flip the damn thing), but chances are you’ll spin it many times in a row, so it’ll feel like a 10″ or 12″ by the time you’ve had your shotgun fun. Side A’s “XVI” (or “Sixteen and Pregnant”) is a total stoner metal ripper and if Red Fang’s “Prehistoric Dog” had a gorgeous twin sister, this would be it. Side B’s “Indian Man” fires an altogether different vibe at you, like Sweatmaster jamming out atop a roof of nails, but the garage tweak contains enough of the band’s Texas edge to keep the party going. Nothing much left to say except I want more, so I pray to thee, oh wise Weedwizard, oh ye of the mighty green beard, for much more from these American Sharks.
Check out the video for “Indian Man” from the Weedwizard 7″!
Yama
Naam
American Sharks