It's a bad sign, as a rule, when bands name themselves after a member of the band. Do I really need to mention Dave Matthews or Steve Miller here? Allowing the most egotistical person in your group to become the band's namesake only invites trouble, heartache, inevitable dissolution of the group and the ensuing, remarkably arid and pathetic solo careers.

Because bands so often ignore the dangers of self-naming, I approached Visitor Jim with so much trepidation. The band includes Jim Greer (no, not the one from Guided by Voices), who is a talented solo artist in his own right; was I about to listen to a vanity project? Was this little-known, (but quite talented) singer-songwriter creating his own -- gasp -- Mike and the Mechanics?

No. As it turns out, my fears were misplaced. All three of the Visitors Jim are, in reality, Jameses or Jims. What I had mistaken for vanity was simply pop music serendipity. More importantly, this is not the sound of a solo performer with a backing band; Visitor Jim is a tight, cohesive unit that plays unabashedly clever, hook-laden rock and roll.

The album begins with "Simple Man", an assault on the sensitive "head-nodding" portion of the hypothalamus which serves nicely to introduce the band's strengths. Solid guitar riffs adorned with bright lead lines, a bouncy rhythm section, close harmony on the chorus, handclaps and the occasional baritone saxophone create the kind of rock song the Rolling Stones wish they could still write.

Another standout track, "Place of My Own", is one of those songs (think "Girlfriend in a Coma") with choruses that so belie the maudlin content of the lyrics that it's hard to remember that you're supposed to be depressed. On "Kill That Jungle", the band throws a children's chorus into the middle of a riff-heavy satire of Woodstock '99, yet somehow it doesn't make the listener cringe. Remarkable.

There are several missteps on Visitor Jim, but after many listens, the thing that stands out the most to me about this disc is the unabashedly classic-rock sound of much of its guitar work. This is not to say that it sounds tired (though it certainly does on "Sunlight In The Air"). Rather, it's as though Visitor Jim is the first guitar-rock band I've heard in a while that isn't embarrassed about being a guitar-rock band. There's no indie-rock tweaking here, no post-rock irony. I'm all for Radiohead et al, but it's nice sometimes to hear a rock band prove that with talent and hooks, it's still possible to release an album that's deeply satisfying without pushing any envelopes whatsoever.