Sack: "Dilettanti (EP)" (Lemon)

Irish bands have never been too comfortable dealing with the jumbled signals of their sexual impulses, which is quite surprising when you consider how all that wonderful guilt and lust is just waiting to be channeled into song. In fact, Something Happens' Tom Dunne is one of the few to attempt to unravel the hormonal headfuck of the Irish male with any degree of clarity or success but with this EP Sack have thrown their hat into the riding arena and a spanner into the well-oiled works of wimpish conformism. The opening track 'What Did The Christians Ever Do For Us?' - a recent NME Single Of The Week - is a deliriously frantic and funny expression of lust and confusion (a national speciality), opening with a snatch of The Pope blathering on about peace - which he pronounces as 'piss', all the better for a juvenile giggle - before Martin McCann enters over slashing guitars which recall The Smiths' 'Hand In Glove' demanding that some Christian flesh be brought to him. Great narky Pop, which is almost bettered by the following 'Superweirdo' a spoken-through-a-bullhorn tale of lost and loony characters . . . ask yourself this, how could you hear Stuttgart '88, Sesame Street and A Flock Of Seagulls being mentioned in a lyric and not laugh? Sack looked to have blown whatever little chance they had over a year ago and now they're storming back with a vengeance . . .