Absolutely
Southern California's Young Dubliners may share a name with one of  Ireland's most famous folk bands, but they draw their musical inspiration from  Celtic rockers likeU2, theBoomtown Rats, andBig Country. OnAbsolutely, the Young Dubs deliver a dozen songs that range from the  guitar-driven anthem "Salvation" to the barroom bellow "Brown Dog" to the power  ballad "These Days." While the band's chunky electric guitars and funky rhythms  are rock & roll to the core, the fiddling of Chas Waltz gives the grooves a  distinctly Celtic lilt, especially on the instrumental "Unreel" and the sweetly  nostalgic cover of theFaces' "Ooh La La." The  Young Dubliners are a very popular stage act--their fans crowd the front of the  stage in "jig pits" rather than mosh pits--and even though they will never be  mistaken for a traditional folk group, the music of the Young Dubs moves to the  undeniable rhythm of a Celtic heartbeat.--Michael Simmons