Following in the well-trodden footsteps of the Even Better Than The Real Thing series is Sparks n’ Mind, a project co-ordinated by the final year students of Dublin’s Sound Training Centre. Their plan was to solicit a bunch of Irish musicians to cover the songs that first stimulated their music-making gene, with all proceeds going to AWARE.
It’s hard to be cynical about charity albums without seeming curmudgeonly, but luckily, this collection is quite an enjoyable listen regardless. Monaghan’s finest The Flaws undertake a faithful rendition of Echo & The Bunnymen’s ‘The Killing Moon’, adding atmosphere in heady doses and whetting the appetite for their forthcoming second album nicely. Elsewhere, Lisa Hannigan’s take on Nick Drake’s ‘Courting Blues’ is sparse and beautifully arranged, Republic Of Loose channel Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘God Moves On The Water’ frighteningly well, while Cowboy X turn in one of the album’s best translations with their cover of Pixies’ ‘Gigantic’, loose and powerful in all the right ways.
Inevitably, there are some well-meant missteps, too: Le Galaxie certainly transform Hall & Oates’s ‘Maneater’, taking its cheesy pop base and spraying it with austere electro beats, but it’s a little too flat to make an impact. Likewise with Ham Sandwich’s take on Shakespeare Sisters’ ‘Stay’, which would have benefited from potent rock riffage instead of its sensitive acoustic frame. With other tracks from Damien Dempsey, Bell X1 and The Thrills on offer, though, there are certainly worse ways to help a good cause.

Key Track: Cowboy X – ‘Gigantic’