Frontmistress Niamh Farrell sounds uncharacteristically sweet on 'The Naturist', the Kells foursome's first single from their second album, due for release in September of this year. A jangly, banjo-led affair, this track marks an exciting new place for Ham Sandwich and may just be their best tune to date.
The lads and lady have made the final selection to join the likes of Doves, Frightened Rabbit, Billy Bragg and Idlewild for the Ben and Jerry's Sundae Festival.
In addition to the November 6th single release, the band will be playing across Ireland this month. They also invite fans to participate in their logo competition.
"Generally the tracks have a real heart tugging quality to them, with rising melodies and great musical diversions as middle eighths – the band really know how to build a song to an epic climax."
Ham Sandwich are asking their not inconsiderable fan base to help them design the cover for their debut album, which is due in the autumn and addresses the theme of heartbreak.
The indie band with the questionable name, Ham Sandwich, have revealed their latest tour dates, which see them play smaller venues as well as festival gigs.
‘Click..Click..Boom!’ sounds for all the world like it should be a hip-hop track and there is a certain swagger and assurance at work here. Musically, this is a duet that sits on the edge of darkness and a track that places itself firmly in the eye of the storm. Producer Karl Odlum continues to bring out the best in Ham Sandwich (b-side‘Song In D’ is, to be honest, equally good) and there is a sense that they could take this anywhere they please. Best new Irish band? At the moment they’re a shoo in.
I’m not sure what I expected from my first Ham Sandwich experience: probably something a little kooky, a bit amateurish and not particularly riveting. Wrong. This is a record of no little intensity, slow burning from a quietish start into something potent and memorable. There are so many things to recommend it – but let’s just stick with the controlled power that the band exudes and Niamh’s truly wonderful vocal. ‘Words’ deserves to be nothing less than their own ‘Nightrocker’, the kind of track that smashes all preconceptions and establishes Ham Sandwich as serious contenders.
You can see the logic behind this mini-festival in The Ambassador, featuring three up-and-coming Irish bands. The small acts pool their respective fanbases to create a bigger audience for all three – thus the gig is given an aura of an event to draw in music-lovers who may not be familiar with any of the performers. In practice, it fell short of the mark.
Having overcome their self-imposed mountain of a name to prove themselves worthy of our attention, ‘St Christopher’ finds the Kells band in a rather serene mood, with mid-tempo monotony highlighting their Sunday feeling. The girl/boy vocal interplay between front people Niamh and Podge isn’t as chilling in its juxtaposition here as Mark Lanegan’s and Isobel Campbell’s – but it’s early days yet.
