Ghost of an American Airman - Some Day (1988, Plain Paper)

Had a request for this one many, many moons ago, and was curious to the point where I went to the trouble of actually locating a physical copy. Hailing from Belfast, Ireland but hardly bearing the socio/political heft of say, slightly more successful forerunners U2 or even the Alarm, Ghost of an American Airman's m.o. was less cumbersome, instead skewing towards more conventional themes. The Airman, fronted by Dodge McKay were forward-thinking enough to chart on the modern-rock continuum, albeit with discernible commercial ambitions, despite their debut, Some Day arriving on an indie label, ostensibly their own Plain Paper Records. Each side of the album commences with a bona-fide, radio-ready clarion call - "Big Lights" and "I Hear Voices," the latter of which made it to a single, and rightfully so given it's indelibly seismic chorus hook, one these ears just might never cease to tire of.  Though consistently listenable, not everything on Some Day bears the same must-hear urgency as the aforementioned, but "Time Means Money" wields another killer melody, sounding akin to what the Fixx were responsible for during the same era, while "Precious" finds the quartet holding their own against contemporaries Simple Minds.  All told, a rewarding find.

01. Big Lights
02. What I Want
03. Dance on Air
04. She's the One
05. Strange Times
06. I Hear Voices
07. Precious
08. Flesh and Bone
09. Saving Grace
10. Time Means Money

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