How cute, I thought. The band put a picture of themselves as children on the cover of their first album.

Or so I thought. But, surprise, the picture of four young lads frolicking in a field in their uniform black pants, white collared shirts and tidy haircuts was current when the album, Parcel o' Rogues, was first released in 1989. The band, also called Parcel o' Rogues, was setting out to make a name at an early age.

The Scottish foursome, including future Battlefield Band fiddler John McCusker, was in its teens when this album was recorded. McCusker, at a fresh-faced 16, was the youngest member of the band. His elders were Patrick Murphy and Kevin McCarthy, both 19, and Francis Macdonald, 18.

Considering their youth, this is a fairly impressive recording. But the album wouldn't be all that astonishing if you didn't know the age of the musicians. In other words, it's good but not great; it's worth having but will probably spend more time on the shelf than it will in your stereo.

Besides fiddle, McCusker contributes tin whistle, piano and bodhran to the mix. Macdonald plays guitar, McCarthy plays flute, tin whistle and saxophone (a nice touch, rarely used), and Murphy plays fiddle and bodhran. All four lads sing, although Murphy has primary vocal duties. And while they make a good chorus, Murphy's voice alone can't carry the band -- even with good material like Robert Burns' "Such a Parcel o' Rogues" and Peter Nardini's "Songs of Rage."

Fortunately, these Rogues are solid musicians, the best of whom is young McCusker, already showing the fine fiddling skills which would later earn him a spot in the ever-changing Battlefield Band lineup. McCusker and Macdonald wrote some fine new tunes for the band -- a few of which I wouldn't be surprised to learn have made it onto some traditional playlists in the past decade.

Their "Grappelli's Dream" is a lovely and slow fiddle duet (Murphy picks up the spare fiddle for this one). The unexpected swing into a brief but lively old-timey reel adds a grand touch to the tune. McCarthy shows off some excellent tin whistling on "Harvey's Workhouse/Harvey's Home" (another McCusker/Macdonald collaboration). And the whole band meshes well on their original set pieces, "The Blackbeard," "Loch Fyne Hotel/The Bairn's Last Dram" and "Bridie's Hornpipe/Peggy's Jig."

The one original song on the album, Macdonald's "Small Deeds for Big Words," is a nice effort but is unspectacular.

It's always encouraging to see older material being re-released, and this is a nice sample of some talented young musicians at work. I hope we can expect to see more early albums from the Celtic field brought back onto the market.