The Buccaneers are from Calgary, Alberta and have had great success on the mp3.com Web site. Billed as "Aggressive Canadian Folk Music", on board stage they mix Celtic classics, originals, and covers of anything from Stan Rogers to The Violent Femmes. Prairie Shanty is their first album, and, as I write this, they have a preview sampler from their second.

High energy is no joke! The Buccaneers play fairly standard versions of traditional music, but with a LOT of exuberance. "Whiskey In the Jar," "Black Velvet Band..." old uptempo bar favorites, done well and set for dancing. These songs are wonderful! They've got a bodhran, frets, and plenty of whistle. They've got a great male vocalist (actually several) with the clear voice of a young Canadian. The vocals and instruments sail well together. You might be reminded of a Bill Hilly or Tanglefoot in sound if not content, and you can hear the spirit of rock as well.

About half the songs on Prairie Shanty are originals,and these are mixed in quality. One nice track is "For Victoria," a contemporary love song with a veil of whistle: "What began with newly wed, Ended with me nearly dead." But the rhythm and words that seem to be charmingly slightly awry on this song seem too much so on some of the others.

The single from their forthcoming album Basement Monkey contains one traditional song, "The Greenland Whale Fisheries," done nicely but a little more slowly, in traditional manner with military snare drums, plenty of whistle, and pleasant harmonies. Of the two original songs, one is in French and one in English. As with other Canadian bands, like the Paperboys, they are a mix of traditional influences and college pop.

[Judith Gennett]