Dublin indie rock legends Sack returned to the frey with a bang in 2024 with Wake Up People, their first album in over 20 years, confirming they're still a musical force to be reckoned with, and some.
When they're not busy rocking the house, the various members of Sack are busy elsewhere; frontman Martin McCann has established himself as a visual artist of reknown, while guitarist John Brereton is currently editor of not one but two essential Irish publications, Totally Dublin and The Goo.
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We asked Sack's John Brereton for his choice cultural picks...
FILM
After 15 years of exclusively watching Disney/Marvel/Pixar/Dreamworks movies and then graduating to my eldest’s obsession with horror movies (my least favourite genre, I went to see Terrifier 3 with him recently. Could not look at the screen for large parts of it, watching monsters turning a human body inside out just isn’t my thing) it was nice to finally sit in a cinema as an adult and watch, eh, the Kneecap film. Loved it. Reminded me of Trainspotting and Human Traffic and I felt like I was in my twenties again.
MUSIC
As editor of The Goo magazine I am under siege with new music, especially Irish. 2024 was another cracking year for local sounds with great records by A Lazarus Soul, Conchur White, Melts, Curtisy, Sprints, Gurriers, High Llamas and, of course, Sack. Internationally English Teacher, Omni, Pale Blue Eyes and DEADLETTER kept things interesting. Looking forward to new music from Skinner and Robocobra Quartet and the Guernica album, a retrospective of a great Dublin band from the 80’s.
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BOOK
My reading has gone to pot since I became editor of The Goo and Totally Dublin but I did manage to finish Bill Bryson's Notes From A Small Island and A Short History Of Nearly Everything recently. Easy reading, a few pages then zzzzzzzzzzzz.
TV
Match of the Day, Masterchef: The Professionals (delighted Dan won but Chiara was cool as) and most recently binge watching Slow Horses. Oldman is supreme but loving all the players to be honest.
GIG
Saw Macca in Paris a few weeks ago which was a dream come true. I’m loving all the ‘new’ Beatles stuff; the gift that keeps on giving. He pranced around the stage like a teenager. A great advertisement for being a vegan. And a multi-millionaire. Looking forward to Gang Of Four in June.
ART
Really digging our lead singer Martin McCann’s new artworks. Using cold wax and oil on paper, they really grab with their wonderful colours and lines. He’s a talented f**ker!
RADIO/PODCAST
Love the Off The Ball lads and regularly tune in to 2FM’s Dan Hegarty, Tom Dunne, Kieran McGuinness on Nova and John Barker, Pete Holidai and Paul McDermott on Dublin City FM for good sounds. Paul has a great podcast, To Here Knows When, Classic Irish Albums Revisited too, really great research. The ultimate musical podcast however is A History Of Rock in 500 Songs. It’s an unbelievable journey that starts out in 1938 with Benny Goodmans Flying High and is currently on episode 176, Sympathy For The Devil by the Stones. A work of immense cultural significance.
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TECH
I'm still baffled by my Vodafone TV service. Accepting help and tips.
THE NEXT BIG THING...
The Dublin metro. Has to be done. Now. Also loving the plans for two Lidos in Dublin. All the rage everywhere, why oh why can it not be done here. C’mon DCC.
Wake Up People is out now - the Vinyl Release Party for the album is in Whelans, Dublin on Feb 8th - find out more here.
