A Streetbeatin Serving of Ham
Don Beat gets the lowdown on the new disc from the meat
Don Beat

As local legend would have it, during the pre-Ham-the-band days in giggy, piggy ’Peg, a wise friend of mine at the long-gone & legendary Alternative Cabaret during a Sunday social meat & eat did say to another hungry pal filling his plate with pink pork by fork: “Hammin’ it up with the ham, huh ham?”

Sha-la-bam! So to muzak market came the hammies, the hemmies and the ha ha hawies. And lo, an idea of the bored came upon the creative of them:

Singer/guitarist Jim Demos (ex-bassist for Hellinacopter, current bassist for National Monument) explains that his band Ham is whatever you want it to be after detailing the creative kitchen origin of the band’s meaty moniker to moi in a very pleasant tone.

“Me and Pauly (lead vocalist/guitarist Paul Lafreniere) were playing in another band, called Billy, at the Rollin’ Stone Cabaret at jam night a long time ago,” Demos details. “And Paul came up with the name. ‘Let’s call it Ham.’

“It came to him because he was at work cooking and some cook said to him, ‘You know, Paul, you’re a good ham.’ We’ve had a bunch of meanings for it. Later we were into Ham as the second son of Noah. We were on that trip for a little while, but then someone asked me if we were a Christian band. We’re not.”

Jam on, jambon! It’s Ham’s 10th anniversary! See the same supersonic Hams who opened for the Pixies at the Burton Cummings Theatre play the Pyramid Cabaret on Jan. 28 with Medicine Missile, DJ Squint and Hot Live Guys.

Thee happy-birthday Hams will also celebrate the release of their third album, Comrades Demand Conquest, at this gig. Demos sez if U buy the new disc U get into the show for free. U Streetbeaters should slice into www.hamtheband.ca for more.

“Our first show was on Nov. 20, 1995, but we’re celebrating it in January. It was at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre. I think it was during the Festival du Voyager. That was interesting because we had a horn section. We had a trumpet player and a trombone player. They practiced with us a lot, but they only played the one gig.”

The current Ham lineup features Demos (say it anyway U want) and Lafreniere with Devin McCracken on bass/vocals and the soon-to-be-departing Brad Piggot on skins.

“This is our third album coming out. The new songs are still a little more dissonant, but with songy changes, and there are more vocals on the new ones, too,” Demos says of the CDC CD before dicing into Ham’s recorded juice.

“We recorded our second album, Embassy de Volcanoes (2002), in Nevers, France. Our first CD was Boreal Imbroglio (1999), and we had two other cassettes before that. The first was a four-track demo recording called Word up From the Mothership (1996), and then Kneel Before Pachacutie (1997).”

Demos says Ham will perform new cuts Ministry of Truth, Sun Worshipping Thoughts Rise Above Her Head and Who Dropped the Bomb? at the Pyramid.

“The new songs on the album sound like the retaliation of a thousand starved and sex-deprived barbarians,” he adds before informing that he posted that very description on Ham’s Myspace Blog.

“One comment about us that I said, that Devin said was good was, ‘You either love it or hate it; if you hate it, you’re just going to love to hate it.’”

Ham it up!

Streetbleats — Thar she blows! If U need another sand-bagging tidal wave of sutured experimental sounds, experience The Floods on Jan. 28 at The Annex, 594 Main St. It’s a self-described “12-movement work of art; exploring site, sound, image and randomness featuring: fletcher pratt/karl ponto/sam koulack/greg hanec/nathan zahn & sarah-lynne otsuji.” Doors R at 9:30 p.m., experimentation undamns at 10:30 p.m.... Like a virus they attacked! Those busy kids over at the 3rd Generation crew have planned a gaggle of all-ages CD-release gigz to cele-flaunt the release of yet another 3rd Gen compilation disc. This one’s got 36 bands, and it’s dubbed We Don’t Die, We Multiply! Day 1 features The Farrell Bros., The Brat Attack, JAW & SPRC at the WECC on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. Day 2 has High Five Drive, Burden of a Decade, The Perms, Doc Brown, 3 Day Binge, Angel Lust, Abstract & TNF hitting the Fort Garry CC on Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. The higher ticket price gets U Streetists a free comp CD.

Got some news to bleat? No attachment treat! Keep it textly sweet! Fire tips to Don at Street Beat! Streetbleep@ hotmail.com.