SINCE black pudding and rashers are stocked in the frozen section of many grocery stores nowadays, it is harder to come back from a trip to Ireland with something unique in tow. In the past, I wowed my friends with CDs from Bell X1, but now even that is no longer a novelty.

Bell X1 struck a deal with U.S. record companies this year, and Flock, the blockbuster disc that mined chart gold in 2006, gets its proper release here now.

Bell X1 combines dreamy pop melodies with a detached vocal delivery that creates a lighter than air alt-rock delicacy. Flock opens with "Rocky Takes a Lover," a playful exchange between lovers. "You weren't so nice last night/you're such an a****** when you're drunk/she said at least I'm all right in the morning," sings Paul Noonan.

When you hear the song, and many of the other ones on this disc, you can't help but feel sorry for Bell X1 in a way. It took them over two years to get Flock over here, and Snow Patrol has beaten them to the punch with blockbuster hits like "Chasing Cars."

Record buyers who don't know the shelf life of Flock might assume that Bell X1 are merely a pack of Snow Patrol rip-offs, but these excellent tracks make a compelling case that perhaps that thievery might have been reversed.

The music on Flock is wildly inventive. "My First Born for a Song" begins with an impossibly complex piano melody joining forces with a Zappa-esque synthesizer before a slinky beat propelled by a supple bass line leavens the oddities somewhat.

"I want to be with you and drink in your light/and toast marshmallows at night," sings Noonan on the disco-friendly "Flame." "Bad Sink Day" combines an impossibly big drum sound with gentle acoustic strumming to create an off-kilter teen angst ballad. If there is a God, and if by chance he ever got his heart broken by a girl, then this song could be the next anthem for tortured souls everywhere.

Just when you think you have the band figured out as a pack of soft alt-rock folkies, they break a sweat and rises above the murkiness of their introspective arrangements.

"Cute whores on every corner putting/there are many that come crawling," Noonan snarls on "Reacharound," a sinister song that shines a dark light on sinister behavior.

Bell X1 includes Brian Crosby, Dave Geraghty, Noonan and Dominic Phillips. They got their start in 1991. Back then, a little known singer named Damien Rice was in the band.

According to the band's press release, they played covers at weddings before landing a Sunday night residency in the Kildrought lounge and bar in Celbridge, Co. Kildare.

Rice left the band right as Manna, their debut EP, was released. Their career picked up steam as they landed supporting gigs for visiting Americans like Elliot Smith and Bon Jovi and released their first proper album, Neither Am I, in the summer/autumn of 1999.

During off times, they provide session musician talents to the likes of Gemma Hayes and Mundy, allowing them to network with fellow stars in the making and tighten what is now a tight knit artistic singer-songwriter community in Ireland.

Their album Music in Mouth was released in 2003 and was not only rewarded with double platinum sales status, but the record made its way into many TV series, from Teachers to The OC. Aided by this exposure, the disc spawned four top 40 singles. One of their songs, "Alphabet Soup," hijacked an REM riff and became one of the rock anthems of the decade over in Ireland.

Over on their home turf, new releases were greeted with multi-platinum status and 10,000 seat venues sold out in a flash. In America, though, it's a different story.

During a recent tour, they played to a few hundred people at a clip but they did make a little headway on influential radio shows in Los Angeles and Philly.

That same quirky rock ingenuity from "Alphabet Soup" can be heard on Flock, and it would appear that U.S. audiences are responding to it. "Natalie" is a song that rides a shimmering, slippery guitar riff, and it has become a breakout hit on college radio.

Many of us were too immersed in St. Patrick's Day shenanigans to catch the band on David Letterman and on tour last month. Hopefully, they will conclude their current tour of Europe and make their way back.

This is the kind of music that we can all "flock" to! Flock is available on Yep Rock Records, iTunes and finer retailers. Check them out on bellx1.com.