Ghost Of An American Airman: "Skin" (Phoenix Distribution)

The only time I reviewed Ghost Of An American Airman, I chastised them for a live performance where passion and energy were sacrificed to perfunctory precision. So when Skin crash-landed on my desk it taxied into the 'pending' bay before the HP control tower directed it onto my CD player for what I assumed would be a short stopover.

And I have to admit to being rather well surprised by an album, which, if unlikely to change the flight-plan of rock history, has had several hook-lines dive bombing my cranium ever since.

On this performance, GAA have shed their overly-serious skin, cranked up the energy quota a bit and unleashed an album brimful of brash, noisy guitars and classy vocals so alive that your fingers instantly walk to the Hot Press Gig Guide in search of a live date.

On tracks like 'Warboys', the single 'King of Nothing' and 'Home' they make

one hell of a decent racket, a veritable cargo-load of pulverising drums, distorted guitars and a rewarding sense of a band actually playing together and enjoying it.

'Buried At Sea''s quieter approach shows off Dodge McKay's aching vocals, reminiscent at times of the vulnerable style of the late Tim Buckley. 'Bird' is a short whimsical acoustic throwaway, 'Clown 2' is a cute slice of waltz-time full of convincing heartache while 'Country' is a sensitive and realistic look at the troubles in GAA's homeland and it thankfully avoids the obvious traps past maudlin efforts have flown straight into.

Sadly, The Airmen still suffer from a lack of stylistic trade marks. At times they can sound like a rock-by-numbers collage of good, solid, gutsy, unpretentious rock, with all the bits in the right place, but these days that may not be enough. Even 'Fairytale' evokes the kind of melodic development Bono trades in and the token cover of 'Witchita Lineman' is little better than your average wedding band, a mistake, surely, which a touch of humour might have salvaged.

All in all Skin is a pleasant flight if not quite business class, but it should ensure that this squadron of Airmen is cleared for take off for their next voyage of discovery.

• Jackie Hayden