"Here's some summer music for an angel," sings Gary Clark in "You Remain an Angel," and what follows is not the Beach Boys' sandy harmonies or Chuck Berry's top-down rock but an accordion straight from the banks of the Seine. This definition of "summer music" epitomizes the debut of Danny Wilson, a Scottish trio named for one of Frank Sinatra's movie roles. The band is often compared to Steely Dan – "Aberdeen" and "Five Friendly Aliens" could pass for outtakes from Katy Lied – but Danny Wilson is closer to the continental spirit of such antirock ensembles as Dream Academy, Prefab Sprout and Blue Nile.

At their best Clark's songs have the intimacy of a note to a friend. But often they also have about as much melody as a note to a friend. It takes some strong music to get away with declarations like "My home is a shelter for language and race," but Danny Wilson seems to regard "sophistication" as superior to hooks or beats. Gary Clark and his band mates – brother Kit and Gerard Grimes, both of whom play several instruments, plus a few studio musicians – have recorded thirteen songs and more than forty-eight minutes of music without repeating an idea. Avant-pop trumpeter Lester Bowie and his Brass Fantasy play in Weillian waltz time on "Ruby's Golden Wedding"; other songs feature Burt Bacharach-style orchestration and cocktail-hour samba rhythm.

Meet Danny Wilson is impressively diverse, using the talents of three different producers, including Howard Gray (UB40), but ambition always comes easily to effete pop sophisticates. Only the wistful melody of "Mary's Prayer" (the single) or the humor of "You Remain an Angel" (where Clark rhymes "hero" and "Robert De Niro" to great mock-tragic effect) or the giddy weirdness of "Five Friendly Aliens" indicate that Danny Wilson's grasp matches its reach. (RS 508)

ROB TANNENBAUM