Round #1

Boxing Banjo's debut on disc arrives trailing competition glory for the County Mayo quartet, who together have amassed more than 20 All Ireland titles: the Healey siblings Mick (on banjo, mandolin, vocals) and Dara (box), Sean O'Meara (guitars), and four-times world bodhrán champion Joseph McNulty. The fresh, youthful rhythm-driven verve of Round #1 marks out the foursome as an outfit to keep an eye on, even if not everything here feels fully integrated. They're at their eager best during unadulterated traditional Irish instrumentals where a debt to the slick, quicksilver fluency of the Flanagan Brothers, stars of 1920s New York Irish dancehalls, is evident. Galway accordionist Máirtín O'Connor's influence is also noticeable. His ‘Rocking the Boat’ is dispatched with a dexterous sense of ensemble, although the Hungarian accents of ‘The Carna Czardas’ are less securely inked in. Safer ground is found in a Québécois flourish of Michel Bordeleau's ‘Fleur de Mandragore’. Two vocal covers catch the attention: Bob Dylan's ‘Don't Think Twice (It's Alright)’ whisked off with puppy-dog softness by Mick Healey and topped by a bluegrass-edged banjo solo, and a pretty, pleasing take on James Taylor's ‘Fire and Rain’ supported by lyrical strings.