WE'RE good at somethings, crap at others' in this musical little country of ours. In the latter: category, we just can't get a grip on hip hop at all - something to do with the rhythm and cadence, if you ask me - and until this here album we were very much Endsleigh League when it came to "huge melodic music" (aka art rock).

The name of the genre defying beast is Horsedrawn Wishes, it's by Dublin combo Rollerskate Skinny and, quite simply, it's stunning.

They're really going to hate this, but you're going to need some reference points. So there are small bits of Mercury Rev, Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine in there, along with smidgins of Einsturzende Neubaten and Dead Can Dance. That's just to give you some idea of the scale they're working on; and it is a tribute to their braveness and experimentation that Rollerskate Skinny have come up with a highly original album, and probably one of the most important Irish releases of recent years.

It's a massive sonic attack. There are layers upon layers and textures upon textures as they double and treble track most everything in sight. There's drum loops, samples, psychotic guitars, demented percussion and some dead posh classical bits - but what really lifts this album on to a higher plane is a firm grasp of good, old fashioned, unit shifting melodies.

Here's the background: Rollerskate Skinny (Ken Griffin, vocals, guitars, Ger Griffin, guitar, and Stephen Murray, bass) formed in Dublin in 1992. Signed up by Beggars Banquet they released their debut album Shoulder Voices in 93 and picked up some prestigious touring support slots with Hole, Pavement and The Smashing Pumpkins before on to Loollapaloosa two years ago.

Now signed to Warners (US branch) they got Anjaili Dutt (Oasis, Boo Radleys) to mix Horsedrawn Wishes and are gearing themselves up for a lengthy tour.

"It's difficult to describe our music," says Stephen, "and we get compared to everybody even early Pink Floyd. The common link is that we all like Phil Spector, that big layered wall of sound, so basically what we do is deconstruct the stuff and then put it all back together again with plenty of melody and attitude."

"It's a question of visualising the music," says Ger. "It's a very abstract thing talking about sound. We all collect different forms of sound from whatever source possible and then sample the sound into the keyboard, mess around with it a bit by bringing it down an octave or whatever, and seeing how it works. It's a lengthy process and that's why the album [took a year to record and mix. We produced it all ourselves."

Their musical influences are all over the place, ranging from Public Enemy to John Coltrane to classical, which gives their sound a very autonomous feel. As distant from guitar based Britpop as it is from the whole lo fi American vibe, they're ploughing their own furrow with a healthy disregard for current fads and fashions.

If you're up for something bright and innovative, get your local multi national record store to put the album on one of their listening posts and make your own mind up. By a spooky coincidence Horsedrawn Wishes went on release in Ireland this morning (Britain and the US don't get it until next week) and the first single is track five, Speed To My Side, which is as good an introduction to where they re at as any.