My second impression, while listening to Pig's Eye Landing's latest CD, Sparrows in the Buckthorn, was that it's a shame someone didn't engineer this album just a little bit better. The balance and sound are fairly good, overall, but there's a muted, almost muffled tone to some tracks. That steals some of the brightness away from the instruments which, from what I can tell, were played with a lot of energy and life.

My first impression was, "Ooh, these guys are pretty good."

Pig's Eye Landing is a quartet from the Great Lakes region with some real spirit driving their music. There's never a doubt, as the band soars through 17 tracks, that the musicians are great at what they do and love it while they're doing it.

The band is Andrea Earley on fiddle, bodhran, viola and vocals, Tim Reese on fiddle, mandolin and guitar, Erik "Puck" Peterson on guitar, banjo, mandolin and vocals, and Amy Sandeen on bass, doumbek, vocals and clogs. It's quite obvious the four musicians are comfortable playing together, balancing the various parts in a seemingly effortless collaboration. I'm betting this is the sort of band whose members smile at each other a lot while they're performing.

The tracks are all arranged well (although the band's decision to fade out the first track, rather than just ending it, is questionable). There aren't many vocals here, and that's probably a good thing. They're not bad, but you can tell that singing isn't their strongest suit. Besides, the instrumentals are so good, why waste disc space with weaker material?

Tracks include traditional standards like "The High Road to Linton" (a grand Irish reel done particularly well here), "Patrick O'Keefe's Slide.The Scholar/Lady Anne Montgomery," "Mulvihill's Reel/The Merry Blacksmith" and "The Star above the Garter/Sonny Broghan's/Dusty Windowsill/Rory O'Moore," as well as lesser-known tunes like "Waltz from Pennou Skoulm," "The Sweet Sunny South" and "Grand River Whiskey," and a few band originals, including "Tim and Melinda's Anniversary Waltz," "Scott's Slip" and "Sparrows in the Buckthorn."

My second impression, about the recording quality exhibited here, is a valid concern. It would be more forgivable if this were the band's first CD, which it's not. But, quite honestly, I noticed the problems less each time I played it, and I played it quite a lot.

But, trust me, it's the first impression which sticks with you.