Sack: "If you’re uninformed, it’s easy to be misinformed"

Sack are back! Almost quarter-of-a-century has passed since the band’s third album, Adventura Majestica, was marvellously reviewed in these pages by Kim Porcelli, who noted the LP began with, “a flawless one-two-three-four punch of irresistible, put-them-on-repeat singles-in-waiting”. That’s more than on the money, and indeed when you talk about Sack, it’s always been the case since their 1994 debut album, You Are What You Eat.

That record contained the golden nugget of a single that is ‘Indian Rope Trick’, as well as the wonderfully titled ‘What Did The Christians Ever Do For Us?’

Notably, the latter was both an NME and Melody Maker single of the week. Meanwhile, Morrissey – a man who knows a thing or two about penning earworms – reckoned that the brilliant ‘Laughter Lines’, off their sophomore album Butterfly Effect, “should be Number One Forever” – and who’s arguing?

On the week Sack rock up to Hot Press HQ, they’ve released yet another banger, ‘Tide’s Out’, the fifth single off their widely acclaimed fourth album, Wake Up People! It’s a magnificent record that featured many critics year-end lists in 2024.

The entire Sack crew are on the Hot Press job – songwriters Martin McCann and John Brereton; drummer and original member Tony Brereton; guitarist Tony Barrett; bassist Gavin Fox; and keyboardist Darren Bolger – all marshalled by their on-the-ball manager, Joe Fitzgerald.

The gang are good craic, as Hot Press photographer Abigail Ring shepherds them through an in-house photo shoot, then down Capel Street and across Grattan Bridge. A bunch of curious students innocently enquire, “Are they a band or gangsters?” Well, to survive in this business as long as Sack have…

Breaking up in the aftermath of Adventura Majestica, Sack would play the odd Christmas gig at The Grand Social, and occasionally appeared at Electric Picnic. Eventually, Pulse College enlisted them, as John puts it, “as a guniea pig band for the students.”

In lieu of payment, they accepted three days’ worth of studio recording. John took ‘What A Way To Live’ out of his arse pocket and Sack were, in a manner, reborn.

The songs were flowing again. John was writing prolifically, while Martin began collaborating with new man Fox. One of the songs from the album, ‘29’, stretched back to Martin and Tony Barrett’s days in old group Elevens, while beautiful album coda, ‘Blood And Boundaries’, was a song that Martin and Tony had worked on in another band called The Fire Shops.

John and Martin are certainly competitive, zealously counting up the number of songs each of them has on the record – 6-5 to Martin – but John is quick to point out that he possesses more singles. John’s tracks are more political, at least explicitly so, tackling as they do themes such as the current diabolical age of misinformation.

“You don’t have to look too hard to find out what I’m talking about,” John says. “We’re surrounded by it, even since the record came out, America has a new president and it’s kicked off already. I suppose it’s a bit more than misinformation. It is a word I’d use, but it’s more for people to wake up and not be so gullible, or don’t be uninformed. If you’re uninformed, it’s easy to be misinformed. Be as well read and well researched as you can, before forming any opinions.”

Martin’s songs about love lost brush delicately against John’s. Newest single, ‘Tide’s Out’, is about evolving rules of attraction and features a captivating sample.

“It’s a friend of mine, Bill Perez,” Martin explains, “who I recorded over 20 years ago in New York. He was a drag queen who used to go to Fire Island on the 4th of July every year, for the Invasion of the Pines, where all the drag queens go and take over. He told me the story.”

Elsewhere, opener ‘I Fell Through A Crack’ – interestingly the last song to be penned – touches upon a serious van accident that happened to Lord John White, when returning from a gig in Cork, which severely injured John. On the night it occurred, when word reached the Electric Ballroom, the late great Christy Dignam of Aslan told a stunned audience to keep the band in their thoughts.

“It’s about a few things around that,” John explains. “It’s about being in the institution of a hospital, and then the institution of religion pinged on that hospital experience as well. I just thought it was a good opener, because it has an atmosphere about it.”

I wonder about the differences in the Dublin music scene from starting out in the early ’90s to now.

“Back in the day,” John explains, “you’d send your demo tape into Dave Fanning. That was the big thing, and you got played. Your tapes would be reviewed by Steady Eddie for his Hot Press column. The traditional route was – you did your demo, you got signed, you did gigs. The record label had a publicist and a plugger that went to radio to try and get your songs on.

“You built up slowly. There’s a good ecosystem in Dublin now with First Music Contact, Angela Dorgan and all that gang. A lot of bands get brought to South by Southwest and Eurosonic, and it’s great for acts to be brought to these showcase events and stuff like that. And going to a gig now, the sound is so much better. When you think of venues like The Underground and the Ivy Rooms, the PA systems were… God, I don’t know what they were, some dodgy sounding gigs.”

I wonder what Dublin bands from when Sack started out are still on the go?

“A House have started playing again,” John says. “Something Happens do the odd gig and Engine Alley do the occasional one.”

You’re the last men standing.

“Jesus,” John laughs, “maybe that’s why people are loving it – we’re the last bastions!”

“Would you know how old we were by listening to the album?” Martin asks. No, not a chance. Pop perfection like this sounds timeless. Do yourself a favour – grab a copy of Wake Up People! And catch the band when they hit the road come summer.

Wake Up People! is out now. Sack play Forest Fest in Emo Village, Co. Laois, on July 25.