what strikes me most impressively about the danielson family is the creativity and freshness about the music. it's strange and unconventional, not modern or punk rock, an alternative to "alternative". this can be scary for many listeners, fearing an adventure into a strange land. dan smith, the main danielson persona, has a unique style of singing, adding more to the strangeness. i think a good comparison of the music is Beck meets the Partridge Family, with some experimental sensibilities from Sonic Youth and Jad Fair/Half-Japanese or the craziness of Wesley Willis. this is a realm very rarely entered by any artist, let alone a family of Christians. this album is much better than the first release, one i also loved dearly and one dearly loved by the cmj (college music journal). the production is a nice polished low-fi sound, helped by noise rock god, Kramer of Shimmy Disc records and Bongwater. it's a great improvement over the no-fi 4-track basement recording of the first project. the background vocals strike me as incredible, they stick out wonderfully, very ethereal. (dan calls them heavenly.) the lyrics are creative, hard-hitting when contemplated. dan writes as a folk singer with a world to change, but writes with incredible ingenuity and even genius. this is THE record to buy for someone ready to give something new a chance. (hope you like it. this album kills me ... it's incredible)
Other coverage for this album
The Lighthouse November 1997Reviewed by Alex KlagesIt isn't often that truly unique music makes it into the market, or is considered to be commercially viable by major record labels. It is, however, a pleasant surprise when an artist who may never be a big seller is given a decent shot by a record company. Such a case is Daniel Smith, and his family band, Danielson. The biggest difference between this album and its predecessor, A Prayer For Every…7ball #12Reviewed by Jamie Lee RakeWith his debut, Danielson provided the Christian market with one of its most endearingly primitive albums. Some of his scattered mainstream airplay caught the attention of Kramer--not the Seinfeld character, but the avant garde New York musician--who also heads the New York City-based Shimmy Disc label. For Danielson Family's Tell Another Joke at the ol' Choppin' Block, Kramer is in the…The Phantom Tollbooth 1997Reviewed by Linc LefeisteWith their second release, The Danielson Family has managed to do the unthinkable: win me over. While their first release was very original and had its good moments, it was way too long and too annoying to be enjoyable. But this time they had an excellent producer in Kramer (Ween, Low). He managed to draw out the best in Daniel Smith while leaving behind the worst. While still bizarre and…Similar sounding releases
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