On Invisible Means, French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson (FFKT) have a core guitar-driven sound as a band, but as song stylists they are as much a hodge-podge as their accounting firm moniker might suggest. Conveniently, these different approaches map nicely to the four members of the band, since there is not a single composition on the CD by more than one member of the group.

As perhaps the most widely-known member, Richard Thompson's inclinations will be the most familiar to many. The baritone singer-songwriter brings a wry intelligence to pieces that are often as impressive comedically as they are musically. Thompson's eclecticism is apparent in his contributions. His songs run the stylistic gamut from Dire Straits-ish guitar pop (like "Peppermint rock") to tongue-in-cheek musical theater (e.g., "March of the cosmetic surgeons") to straight-up Irish bar rock (such as "Loch Lomand").

This reviewer was most surprised by the song stylings of drummer/vocalist John French. French is best known as the innovative drummer for Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, where French's uniquely stumbling kit work was an essential ingredient. While he often employs his characteristic playing on this disk, his songs are perhaps the tamest: check out the "modern adult contempo" strains of "To the rain," and "The evening news," for example. However, French proudly flies his Beefheart flag with "Suzanne," a great eccentric pop tune.

Best known as a legendary guitar innovator, Fred Frith is solid and dependable but essentially invisible as a bass player. His songs, however, are some of the most interesting musically of the bunch. Most of them are instrumentals that combine the shifting time signatures of prog rock with serpentine modal melodies reminiscent of world music. His best piece on the album is the noir-ish "Quick Sign."

As distinctive as Thompson's vocals and French's drumming is Henry Kaiser's amazing guitar work. He more than earns his reputation as an innovator � as opposed to a mere knob twiddler � with the numerous blistering solos he contributes throughout. In fact, his playing is spotlighted on the Dead-esque live version of the Stones' "Play with fire." As a composer, here, Kaiser mainly contributes fine Asian-tinged instrumentals (like "Kalo Takariva" and "The nearsighted heron"). However, he is clearly in a Richard Thompson mood � if not a Weird Al Yankovic one � with "The days of our lives," a novelty piece that trades on the titles and plot lines of soap operas.

Except for the live song "Play with fire," this disk is a rerelease of the 1990 album of the same name. A variegated and decent collection of quirky pop-rock that features numerous moments of brilliance and wit.