The Young Dubliners
may no longer be the sprightly lads who met in a Los Angeles pub in the early '90s, but the Irish-American quintet's highly accessible blend of
Celtic
and
roots rock
has lost none of its fiery spirit. While parenthood and other forbidden
rock & roll
notions may have crept into the fold, chief songwriter
Keith Roberts
handles these new responsibilities with care, capably juggling the wonders of family life (
"Evermore"
), post-9/11 paranoia (
"Say It's So"
), and good old-fashioned Blarney-revelry (
"Waxies Dargle"
) with equal parts mischief and heartfelt candor on the group's fifth record,
Real World
. His
Bono-esque
croon serves the songs well, especially the energetic opener that doubles as the album's namesake -- like
"Touch the Sky,"
with its anthemic chorus and Uilleann pipe lead, it blends the two genres so effectively that it never sounds like a gimmick. These are reliable songs from a reliable band, and while skeptics may decry their
U2
-meets-
the Hooters
brand of
adult alternative
rock
as contrived, there's no grandstanding here, just a group of guys who love to play together and do it extremely well. ~ James Christopher Monger