Danielson and the Nine Fruit Tree

Picture Christian praise song: somber, palm-lifting fundamentalists monotoning their way to the Almighty. Now picture a version by, say, the Flaming Lips: off-kilter harmonies, surreal lyrics and a strong sense of the musically absurd. A few have managed to straddle the bipolar worlds of indie rock and life-by-Scripture-such as Pedro the Lion, local warblers Soul-Junk and New Jersey's Danielson Famille. The latter began as a senior thesis project of Daniel Smith at Rutgers University. An odd, hyper-literate songsmith who sounds like Frank Black after a good castration, Smith has won critical acclaim from rock places on high (SPIN, Village Voice). His solo project-Danielson and the Nine Fruit Tree-has him singing quirky, oddball praise songs from inside a 10-foot papier-maché tree. Yes, a papier-maché tree. It's indie rock as seminary school arts and crafts.