Sheep in the Box brings us to something sublimely silly: pirate metal. And our example today is Alestorm from Scotland.

Of course, just because it is silly doesn’t mean that the bands don’t take it seriously. Running Wild (perhaps the first pirate metal band) seems rather serious about it all — focusing on pirates as they were rather than their legends.

But for whatever reason, Alestorm seems well aware of the joke. Here are a few lines from today’s song “Drink” off Sunset on the Golden Age.

We live each day like there’s nothing to lose
But a man has needs and the need is booze
They say all the best things in life are free
So give all your beer and your rum to me!

And once again, we have a song with tens of millions of views that I have never heard of. Meanwhile, I was looking at a short film by the great director Michael Kallio that has been available for a year and a half that has 141 views.

Not that Alestorm is bad. They are fun. I just feel sorry for anyone who is cursed to be liked by me. Lucky are the artists I’ve never heard of!

Sunset on the Golden Age cover via Amazon under Fair Use.