Everyone knows a band like this one.

You know the type -- some guys put together a show of Irish standards and perform with more bravado than art. Their enthusiasm is infectious enough for audiences who enjoy a live show to inspire the band to record their music as a keepsake.

That's likely the case with the ShamRockers, a folky quintet affiliated with the Port Polson Players, a music and theater troupe in Polson, Montana. Their 2010 recording, Just Plain Lucky, is spirited enough that fans of the genre will at least want to sing along on a couple of tracks.

The band on this recording is Liam O'Leary on vocals, guitar and bizouki, Robby Flynn on vocals and guitar, Mick Houlihan on vocals, whistle, guitar and harmonica, Nels O'Connell on vocals, guitar and banjo and Paddy Doyle on vocals, fiddle, mandolin and bodhran. (In keeping with the theater aspect of their endeavors, the musicians are all using pseudonyms to bolster their Irish cred; in reality, Liam is John Glueckert, Robby is Rob Sloan, Mick is Rick Skates, Nels is Neal Lewing and Paddy is Mike Lozar.)

You can probably guess most of the songs on the album: "The Mermand," "The Leavin' of Liverpool," "New York Girls," "Haul Away," "I'll Tell Me Ma," "The Night Pat Murphy Died," "Wild Rover" and "The Parting Glass" among them. Lewing provides two original songs for the album -- "The Irish Sing & Dance" and "Fine Young Lads" -- and I applaud the effort.

Like I said at the beginning, everyone knows a band like the ShamRockers. They keep the music alive, and people have a lot of fun in the process. Sometimes, that's enough.

[ visit the ShamRockers' website ]