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HAM 1- S/T- SELF RELEASED- Not surprised that this came outta Athens, GA cos’ this is some serious left-field pop from basically one guy, Jim Willingham. I’m not always sure what it is he’s singing about but that doesn’t matter to me because there’s enough hooks here to satisfy a crinkled-eyebrow pop curmudgeon like myself. At times it reminds me of mid-period Sebahoh while others it seems like the circus has come to town and he’s got all of his buddies (Olivia Tremor Control? Neutral Milk Hotel? Of Montreal? Etc.) , 154 of em’ in a room big enough for 3, but the bottom line here is the guy can write fantastic tune and 13 of them nudge up against each other on this disc. “Wrong Way Marshall”, “Broken Crown”, “Tree of Birds” , those and many others will keep you whistlin’ all day. Honest. 2005 Flagpole Magazine Writers' Pick Upon its release earlier this year, Ham 1’s debut album seemed fine. Y’know: good. It was really good, in fact. But it’s a sleeper kind of album, sticking with you for months and only slowly revealing itself as the truly excellent collection of songs that it is. Ham 1 is the kind of album Athens used to be known for. It’s pop, clearly home-grown, but still precisely, if quirkily, assembled. Droll. Adventurous. Peculiar. Successful in both its instrumental and vocal tracks. Jim Willingham and his band should be proud. Athens should be proud.
Self-released by Athens, Ga., schoolteacher Jim Willingham with drums by Olivia Tremor Controller Eric Harris, "Ham 1" kicks off with the quirky indie-pop of "Pop Song for a Funeral" before winding its way through several tracks of offbeat incidental music, a handful of rockers that bristle with raucous post-Guided By Voices abandon, tender indie ballads, one track that's practically psychobilly and a country-flavored waltz called "Floorida." It doesn't sound like something that should hold together as an album, but it does, if in part because Willingham's vocals and lyrics are as offbeat as the music. -- Ed Masley "Ham 1 has a casualness to their attack that seems friendly and familiar. And there is a intelligence and artfulness that makes you want to know more. Ham 1 leader guitarist/songwriter Jim Willingham (a reading teacher from Athens, GA) is like your oddest, smartest buddy. HAM 1 includes folksy tunes, cool-as-hell instrumentals, and loads of good karma. This isn't hippie music; Ham 1 is like Velvet Underground performing porch music. This band is highly musical and deserves the attention of the music-loving people of Earth. Go check it out at www.Ham1.org. Your ears and musical mind will thank you." -H. Barry Zimmerman Athens, GA makes most people think of Elephant 6. Sure, that’s a generalization, but it’s probably true. Lots of great bands have come out of the city, and Ham1 is another band emerging from Athens at the moment. Jim Willingham, a school teacher, is the frontman of the band. And to tie in the mention of Elephant 6, Eric Harris, drummer of Olivia Tremor Control, also does drums in Ham1. Not all of the songs are quite so poppy. There are a few great instrumental tracks which capture the sound really well; ‘Wrong Way Marshall’ has a great trombone piece throughout the song. And a few tracks have the E6 psych kind of sound to them. There is also a distinct twang/folk feel on the album, especially from the song ‘Floorida’. The album would probably sound just as good if played through an old AM radio. First off, when was the last time you saw a band giving away their entire record on the net? Okay, when was the last time that record was really pretty damn good and would have been worth actually paying for? But it was still free… never? Well, that’s exactly what Athens, Georgia-based Ham1 is doing, and it’s well worth your time to go and get it. The Ham1 sound isn’t content being pigeonholed into being simply pop. A variety of styles and influences are at play and they mingle nicer than kindergarteners. From the 60s So-Cal psych-pop stylings of opener Pop Song For A Funeral to the Architecture In Helsinki-ish instrumental Wrong Way Marshall, from bar-rockers Out On The Tarmac and Swan Dive to the countrified Tree Of Birds and Floorida, from the hazy, psychedelic instrumental Alice’s Call to the distorted riffage of Another Flipped Lid, Pt. 1, the Ham1 boys, [Jim Willingham (Harey Carey, Crown Vic, Prince Rondavels) on guitars, vocals and miscellaneous tools of noise, Eric Harris on drums, organs and backing vocals and Chris Sugiuchi on trombone, percussion and backing vocals] prove that some of the best things in life are in fact free. Or at least some of the best pop tracks are anyway. First thing you should know about Jim Willingham is he prefers not to sell his records. That alone's worth some ink on these pages, especially when you're able to spin a yarn that sounds like Roger Miller on Robitussin (the old animated version of Robin Hood's been in heavy rotation around my house lately; Miller narrates and soundtracks). "Alice's Call," a lazy, dusty, western instrumental, lends itself to being picked apart for its samples (I can imagine an RJD2 remix used in a Taratino western). "Pop Song for a Funeral" could be an outtake from R.E.M.'s outtake LP Dead Letter Office. Which makes sense seeing as Willingham's from Athens, GA, and has tapped the local scene for his back-up band. Members of Olivia Tremor Control, the Rock*A*Teens, Japancake, and the Glands all lend a musical hand. |
