Local H's rough debut was a hidden gem. - A Ham Fisted Review and Retrospective скачать в хорошем качестве

Local H's rough debut was a hidden gem. - A Ham Fisted Review and Retrospective

On January 24th, 1995, Local H released their debut album Ham Fisted. Although it was received fairly well by critics, it failed to sell, which nearly cut the band’s career short. But how did it come to be? And how was it really? Has it aged like wine or like milk? That’s what I’m here to find out. Join me on this journey into history. I hate being a couple of days late to celebrate the anniversary of this tremendous album, but I'm glad I'm here at all! Thank you so much for watching. Make sure to let me know what you think of the album below, and subscribe for more content like this! Sources: https://localhmuseum.tripod.com/index... https://archive.is/giZYp https://www.vulture.com/2018/11/the-s... http://www.localh.com/25-years-of-loc... https://robertchristgau.com/get_artis... https://trouserpress.com/reviews/loca... https://www.allmusic.com/album/ham-fi... https://iowastatedaily.com/229072/unc... https://lollipopmagazine.com/1995/03/... https://www.jaehakim.com/1996/12/thes... ‪@gremlinjoke‬ ‪@flattered‬ ‪@localh4085‬ Some excerpts: From the small town of Zion, Illinois, founded by a minister and home to at the time roughly 19,000 people (one of whom was, at one point, Gary Coleman), Local H’s origins can be traced back to a bunch of high school friends. Guitarist and vocalist Scott Lucas, drummer Joe Daniels, and bassist Matt Garcia played together in a band or two – I’ve seen the name Rude Awakening mentioned although Garcia himself mentioned a band called Family Cruisers – before reuniting briefly in 1989 and officially coming together as a quartet in 1990, joined by guitarist John Sparkman. Lucas was the one who brought the name Local H to the group. Although some speculated a reference to heroin, the truth is much more innocent – Lucas pulled the name from two R.E.M. songs (“Oddfellows Local 151” and “Swan Swan H”). Reviews at the time seemed kind. Jon Young at Newsday called it “a spell-binding display of neurotic rock and roll at its finest.” Len Righi at The Morning Call described the album as “a metallic punk-grunge KO,” and the outlet even put it on their list of the best albums of 1995. Jason Arnopp would give the album four out of five stars in Kerrang!. Ira Robbins would write in Trouser Press that the album “offers an entertaining haymaker of cranked-up, stripped-down ’95 noise,” as well as saying “[Lucas and Daniels] manage to sound like a full-spectrum band – and a 140-proof one at that.” Nowadays, I think the album is held alongside other Local H albums with a certain amount of reverence, but that reverence comes in smaller doses for Ham Fisted. I’ve found various reddit threads singing its praises, including a nice writeup by Tragic_girl13 on the grunge subreddit, as well as getting some recognition 3 years ago in a Band of the Week thread on the Queens of the Stone Age subreddit, written by moderator House_of_Suns. Users on music review websites are also on the side of Ham Fisted, with it sporting mostly favorable ratings around the 3.5/5 mark wherever you look. I’ll spoil my thoughts for you: It’s great. When I decided to write this review, I of course listened to the record from start to finish. As the songs went by, I wrote down my thoughts. And at the end, I looked at the score it accumulated with a sense of disbelief. “That can’t be right. It’s not that good, is it?” And so, I listened to it again and again, looking for reasons to lower my overall rating. But I couldn’t find any. The album is mixed well, which should be expected given Haigler’s impressive resume. He did an excellent job ensuring that the duo was given equal opportunity to shine. Lucas and Daniels wrote all the songs themselves, and I have to give major credit for their grasp on song structure. The short songs aren’t too short, the long songs aren’t too long. At no point does the album feel like it’s rushing or dragging. Lucas’ lyrical style is, as many have noted, about as subtle as a “Bag Of Hammers,” and that’s not a bad thing. Quite the contrary – I love it. It helps make the band stand out from many others who studios tried to make happen during the post-Nirvana era. Ham Fisted, while being a great debut for Local H, would unfortunately forecast their fate in the music industry by being under-noticed, underrated, and under-appreciated. Although, while I say that, they are closing in on a million monthly listeners on Spotify thanks to consistently putting out good releases for the past 35 years. And although Daniels hasn’t been a member of the group since 1999, aside from a brief reunion in 2016 (even teaming up with Matt Garcia again to bring the original trio together on stage in Portland), you’ll find a band worth listening to. Maybe I’m overrating it. Maybe I don’t care. Ham Fisted is a damn good album. 9/10