eMusic Review
It's been five years since the last Danielson family outing, and in that time Famile friend and co-conspirator Sufjan Stevens has gone from Midwest obscurity to Lincoln Center showpiece, Christian rock bands like Switchfoot and Relient K have made inroads on the pop charts and Mel Gibson turned holy masochism into mountains of mammon. While chief Famile member Daniel Smith may share their pilgrims 'faith, it's unlikely that he'll duplicate their success. Smith's approach to songwriting is decidedly cockeyed, but that's one of the things that makes Ships such a singular treasure. Joyful, raucous, rowdy and triumphant, Ships is the best Danielson record by miles, full of odd angles and strange angels and the kind of childlike guilelessness that guides camels through drinking straws.
The record isn't credited to the Famile proper because it's a collaboration — members of Deerhoof, Why? and Serena Maneesh show up to strum and to sing — but the soul of Ships is unquestionably Smith's. It's his rapturous yelp that directs the action and his screwball guitar playing that dictates the songs 'structure. People gripe about Smith's singing style (somewhere between Frank Black and Blossom Dearie), but it's hard to… read more »
