There is a certain incongruity in the sound of Shenanigans, a Kansas area trio, on their debut CD Forest Through the Trees.

Their instrumentation is strong and well arranged. The vocals are lively and tuneful, with excellent harmonies. And yet....

Shenanigans, through pitch and pep, sounds at times like a band devoted to children's music more than to mainstream Celtic ballads. Their voices, excellent though they be, hover in a higher range; one friend, upon hearing the CD for the first time, asked if I was listening to a band of leprechauns. As such, songs like the silly "Coulter's Candy" and the fanciful "St. Brendan's Fair Isle" sound very appropriate, while fierce battle songs like "Follow Me Up to Carlow" and "Achindoon" sound a little odd -- I kept envisioning a band of fierce leprechauns wielding tiny swords, and that's not the imagery I want when hearing about "a stream of Saxon gore."

Also, the band seems to be stuck permanently in a state of good cheer, an emotive state which doesn't always suit the subject matter. "Macpherson's Rant," sung by Victor Dougherty, must be the happiest song ever sung by a man about to be hanged, although Richelle Basgall's keyboard fadeout on "Paddy Ryan's Dream" is dark and moody. "Here's You Boys," about an Irish immigrant who lost his leg and his chance for a fortune in America after being swept up in the Civil War, has excellent vocals by Kelly Dougherty, but Victor's chair-bopping rhythm and bass line spoils the dismal mood just a bit.

"I'll Lay You Down Love," sung by Richelle, has a lively, revivalesque sound which keeps toes tapping throughout. "Mormond Braes" (Richelle again) focuses on the upbeat optimism of love rather than the cynicism of loves lost. "Fiddler's Green" is a rare somber track on the CD; the song about the sailor's afterworld is neatly presented as a straightforward folk ballad; another one is "Three Score and Ten," which trades its restrained emotion during the tale of 70 fishermen drowned in a storm for a short but vigorous fiddle tune, "New Rigged Ship," played by Richelle at its end. "Jock Stewart" also gets ballad treatment; vocally, tenor singer Victor sounds a bit like '80s Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung, and Richelle's low whistle adds a nice bit of background atmosphere.

Richelle shares lead vocals with Victor for the fierce "Achindoon" before she launches some pumped-up fiddle work on "O'Kief's Slide." There are a few instrumental tracks -- "The Lilting Banshee/Mug of Brown Ale," "The Butterfly/Foxhunter" and "Burning of the Piper's Hut/Youngest Daughter/Jim Kennedy's Favorite" -- which are uniformly strong, boasting excellent performances and strong arrangements. I'd love to hear more instrumentals from this band; Richelle in particular, with mastery of a wide range of instruments at her disposal, is an absolute treasure!

Overall, Forest Through the Trees is a grand listening experience. There's nothing wrong with a happy band, although that does require choosing primarily happy subject material! Shenanigans certainly kept me in good cheer while the album was playing.