Oysterband “Holy Bandits” <i> Rykodisc</i>

This veteran English folk-rock band may have contracted its name from two words to one with its latest release, but “Holy Bandits” is full of music with an expansive spirit. Factor in Oysterband’s Celtic roots, the elegant side that enters with the use of string orchestrations, and an ability to muster a slashing, full-on guitar rock attack, and you have an expansive sound as well.

These assets are united on a cohesive album that carries a strong group vision of how the world can wear out strivers, stomp on underdogs, and yet not quite vanquish those who hold to their ideals and inner fire. While reggae is one roots-music strand you won’t hear from the Oysterband, “Holy Bandits” is kindred to Bob Marley’s “Natty Dread” as a chronicle of struggle and comradeship. Like Marley, singer John Jones and his mates know that part of the burden of the songwriter who takes on weighty issues is, in the reggae great’s words, to “lively up yourself” from time to time by throwing down the burden and having some fun.

“Holy Bandits” opens with a couple of rollicking, defiant songs set to wild Irish strains, then slows for more plaintive and reflective moments that acknowledge that pumped-up spirits are fleeting, after all, while struggles are never-ending. The album grows darkest toward the end, but the stance remains unyielding, with a final, comically upbeat wedding song suggesting that perseverance has its momentary but real rewards.

Fans of the Pogues should take to this like leprechauns to rainbows; U2 admirers pining for the rattle-the-battlements days of “War” and “The Unforgettable Fire” also could do worse than ordering Oysters.