ALKALINE Trio may purport visions of doom and despair - their album cover has the trio, hands crossed, in front of a black graveyard - but their music is anything but.

The American threesome of Matt Skiba, Dan Andriano and Derek Grant may be relatively unknown across the pond, but Good Mourning is actually their fifth studio effort. Melodic, with carefully constructed lyrics, Alkaline Trio are more Green Day than Marilyn Manson, regardless of how they want to be perceived. Highlights include the almost soulful This Could Be Love and the bizarrely titled Every Thug Needs A Lady. For a group that aspires to all things metal, there's very little thrash and bang, but that is to their credit - they let their music, and not their noise, do the talking. It's not earth-shatteringly different, but it's inventive enough to demand more respect than the three-piece now enjoy.

Updated: 10:29 Thursday, July 10, 2003