**1/2 Solas

SUNNY SPELLS AND SCATTERED SHOWERS

(Shanachie)

Maybe I just have a tin ear, but this American Celtic superband, who've been hailed as "among the most exciting bands anywhere in the world," still don't strike me as more than a pleasant listening experience. There's no denying the members' individual virtuosity, from singer Karan Casey to John Doyle on guitar, Séamus Egan doing flutes and whistles and some banjo, Winifred Horan on the fiddle, and John Williams with his button accordion. Perhaps that's the problem: they sound like virtuosos, not like a band.

Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers has some lovely songs for Casey's wispy, Maighréad Ní Mhaonaigh-like soprano; on "The Unquiet Grave" and "Vanished like the Snow" (the latter credited to Sidney Carter, with no mention of Villon) she's supported beautifully by Horan and Egan. But the rest is dominated by Doyle's monotonous strumming and by basic harmonies that wear out their welcome long before the sets do. (Just compare "The Big Reel of Ballynacally" here with what the Chieftains do for the same tune in "Ríl Mhór" on The Chieftains Live.) It's decent folky stuff, but hardly enough to get your Irish up.

-- Jeffrey Gantz

(Solas appear this Sunday, July 20, at the DeCordova Museum, in Lincoln. Call 876-4275.)