With the stock of Irish music never so in vogue, it’s only natural that some old hands would be enticed back into the game for a victory lap. Ahouseisdead, Revelino, Something Happens, The Saw Doctors and others have embraced the current climate of nostalgia with live shows or reissues in recent times. Even acts from this century like Adebisi Shank are getting in on the act after a decade of downed tools.

It’s about time the old guard stood up and declared that other Irish bands besides U2, Thin Lizzy, The Undertones and The Cranberries have a pedigree and back catalogue to be proud of and deserve some R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Sack is definitely one act warranting increased adulation. 1997’s ‘Butterfly Effect’ is one of the greatest Irish albums of all time. How they never went on to be famous is one of Irish music’s great mysteries. They shone brighter than most of their peers for a while, opening for the likes of Morrissey and The Fall, and then faded away.

Two decades on from their last album, 2001’s ‘Adventura Majestica’, they are back with the rousing ‘Wake Up People!’, a fresh, vibrant collection of songs bursting with melodic vim and vigour.

Although the jangle pop-influence of The Smiths is never far away, Sack haven’t let time’s tide smother them, no doubt thanks in no small part to guitarist John Brereton’s active presence as a booker/promoter in Dublin over the last twenty years.

Synth-driven indie heater Do You Need Love would nestle nicely on a Blossoms or Blondshell album, while Martin McCann’s nectary croon “Do you need sex, yes I want sex” is both surprising and poignant when it arrives.

That said, the intervening years have clearly provided plenty of moments to draw upon but thankfully for Sack, their songs of experience aren’t clouded by the hubris of fame or self-aggrandising moments of “Poor me, I could’ve been a contender.” Instead, these songs stand on quiet moments of joy after the mortgage has been paid and moments of reflection on the times they barely survived (I Fell Through A Crack).

They reach out in solidarity to marginalised communities (Tides Out) and touch on mental health on the showstopping Unmade Bed Of A Man and the Dog Man Star-esque Mood Swing Day, and collectively despair at how social media has lead so many people astray on What A Way To Live.

Much like the reformed Suede before them, Sack find themselves absorbed in the here and now and they are all the better for it. ‘Wake Up People!’ should put other veteran acts on notice: you’ll need to bring your A-game if you want to get back in the ring, or McCann’s croon will smother you.