Sometimes videos go viral within the confines of a specific country and they never reach the wider world. Often, that's a real shame. Lucky for you, Irishman (meaning born, raised and residing in actual Ireland) Sean McTiernan is going to give you a glimpse into the country's already storied collection of viral gems. Yesterday, we covered Irish Rap, and now, well....
If the words "harmless" and "whatever" formed a band, it would sound like Irish indie band Ham Sandwich.
They even seem to have picked a name that reflects this commitment to "meh." And although musically they strive for to approximate the color beige, they have discovered a new type of rock'n'roll outrageousness. Lou Reed may have had heroin, Joe Strummer may have had speed but only Ham Sandwich has a female lead singer who spent nine months pregnant without noticing. You won't find anything like that in Hammer Of The Gods.
It seems slightly mean, it should be noted, to discuss this fairly private matter. However, they kind of opened themselves up for that when they sold their story to an America's body shock TV show, "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant." That, to me, says: "we are putting this out there."
This is "real." It may look like a spoof initially but as it goes on it'll quickly become obvious this is far too perfect to be a spoof. No one could fake the American actors who, when they aren't committing to serious silent-movie style gurning, speak in accents that are halfway between a laughable facsimile of a cartoon Scotsman and a distressed pirate. And amazing as these I-am-doing-their-serious-face histrionics, inexplicable Trainspotting impressions and props (her wig is a sentient being) are, they are all surpassed by their most glaring fault of all. These people are too attractive.
Even when Irish people are attractive, and I know several that are extremely so, they are attractive in odd and interesting ways. Like a lovely table with one leg slightly too short. Irish attractiveness has character; these people look like rigorously polished wood. That's not our game.
Also worth noticing is now eagerly Ham Sandwich are to get as medical as possible. Even the guitarist delivers curious bursts of insight like "she seemed to gain weight but it didn't really notice cause it wasn't an awful lot of weight, it just kind of a slight bit more weight." Imagine this man at 15, thinking, "One day my band will be so popular that footage of me speculating on my female band mate's weight will be intercut with her explaining the intricacies of her period."
I know I was mocking their music earlier, but whatever you like it listen is fine with me, honestly. I was just shocked by this weird cash grab that would rob anyone of their credibility as a human being let alone as a band. Anything else you might like to know about them can be found on Wikipedia, though it should be noted that this spring, a band member left due to an unspecified typographical error.
If you're starting to feel protective of them, well, this should reel you back.
Also, in case you were terribly captivated by the reenactment footage above, here is The Stunning Conclusion.
Spoiler: she has a baby.
Anyway. This is all a real shame (though, congratulations on the child! All's well that ends well!) and a bad reflection on the Irish music scene, which is having a wildly amazing renaissance at the moment.
For instance, the most exciting rock band in the world currently comes from Ireland, get into them instead.
Their new album sounds like it was recorded in space and is very cheap, you know how to proceed.
Next week: Adventures with the GardaÃ!
Sean McTiernan is 21, his favorite rapper is E40 and he only smokes when he's drinking. He has a blog and a Twitter. So does everyone though. He also has a podcast on which he has a nervous breakdown once an episode, minimum. In other words: it's great for the gym.

Sean McTiernan is 21, his favorite rapper is E40 and he only smokes when he's drinking.
You sound like someone I'd hate thoroughly.
I'm really liking this series.
So am I. It is enjoyable.
It's scary working with the Irish! I basically have a macro script search thingie that checks for all instances of words ending in "unt" that replaces that with "omrade."
(I'M KIDDING. Jokes, jokes. But seriously, you know how the Irish are.)
ALSO THAT KATE BUSH COVER MAKES ME WANT TO MURDER.
I'm not getting the hate here. Does Sean hate them for being a hacky cover band or for not being a hacky metal band? Is Sean's loathing exacerbated by seeing their pregnancy re-enacted on a cheesy reality series?
I sort of prefer the (Jon) Hamm sanwich made by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler at one of the Emmy afterparties.
If you feel inclined to write anything on poteen and/or the Travelers I would be interested.
I'm with Screen Name; this series rules. E-40 is great, too. Don't listen to the bald guy.
I sent the Rubber Bandits videos to my grandpa who is a first-generation Irish immigrant. He is blind, so he won't be able to see/read anything, but he has a text-to-speech parser. I wonder whether he'll be able to understand its reading of the Gaelic text in the video description? He'll definitely get a kick out of the music, at least.
Heh, not liking their music or being baffled by the pregnancy is one thing, I reckon it's a bit low to include *that* link tho. It's old news and it seems sensationalist to drag it up again.
"Johnny has left Ham Sandwich due to a typographical error." Am I the only one who doesn't know what the fuck that means?
Also: profanity = Irish.
She has a nicotine stain all over her face.
Also, fetal alcohol syndrome is pretty much a given.
gorillas mot as scare now
I almost want to know a) how the first story ended and b) how the second one started.
Also, the actress playing the second girl who Didn't Know She Was Pregnant looked a lot more like the actual girl. Her baby daddy looked a little too much like a Federline for my comfort, though.
As someone who knows the band involved, I would like to point to a couple of factual aspects of the story that might have altered the tone of the article should the author have known them. First, they received a microscopic amount of money for the show. Second, they were misled by the producers as to the sort of show it was. The producers contacted them after reading the story about Niamh in one of the Irish tabloids and contacted the band indicating that the show was a serious sort of medical documentary. They gave their talking head pieces and knew nothing else about it until they saw the finished, sensationalist, end product. In Ireland and Britain, this type of show normally has a much more scientific and research-heavy bent and would never have the terrible reconstructions. In fairness to them, they were duped. It is a funny meme though.
Ham Sandwich is pretty good. I like them. So they did a bad cover, waah-waah-waah, get back to yer speed metal, ya langer, ya muppet, ya strung out street skanger.
Looking forward to going back and reading the first installment, though.
When, exactly, did "muppet" become such a prevalent insult across the pond?
Over here, I'd take it as a compliment and make "om nom nom" noises.
Me love Cookie Monster.