In an attempt to get out of my own comfort zone of bands I already work with, or friends I’ve known for a long period of time, I thought of Atlanta’s NAW for this next cover. I don’t really know any of them at all.
The only thing I really knew about about them ahead of time was that I liked their name a lot. Is it a Southern drawl of saying ‘no’, or is it a phonetic spelling of being chewed up and torn apart? Could it be both? Whatever it is it’s clever and I like that. They have a great way of mixing metallic grungy heaviness with a punk leaning and vocals that alternate seamlessly from almost harrowed clean singing to one of the most evil screams you’re bound to hear.
So when I was drawing up a list of bands and songs I wanted to see covered I knew Bad Brains had to be on that list. They basically invented hardcore. And I thought to myself, ‘who, out of current bands that I know and appreciate, can do what they did? Who has the technical skill to pull it off? Who has a voice that can emulate HR’s manic howl and anthemic croon all at once? How low can a punk get?’ And I thought ‘Naw has those qualities and I believe they take an amalgamation of subgenres and mash them into something exciting…. the same way Bad Brains can.’ Naw chose to cover “I Against I” and they stay true to the original’s quick-paced first half but then transform the second half of the song into a freaky mutant sludge befitting a band that has an original streak of their own going on with their own music. I’d expect no less. Thank you Naw for contributing “I Against I” to this series. So yes to Naw.
No comments:
Post a Comment