*** Danielson

TRI-DANIELSON!!!

(Tooth and Nail)

It sounds like something from a Thomas Pynchon novel: a Christian rock band made up of five siblings (ages 14 to 26) who hail from Jersey, dress in vintage nursing costumes, and are led by eldest bro Daniel, who bears an uncanny physical resemblance to Luke Skywalker but sounds more like Black Francis or Jad Fair. And yet Danielson are very real, very earnest, and very, very good. Conceived as part of Daniel's Rutgers University senior thesis, the blood-bound group garnered significant attention with last year's superb Tell Another Joke at the `Ol' Choppin Block.

The new Tri-Danielson!!! isn't quite as powerful, mostly because it lacks much in the way of Choppin Block's swirling, mantra-like chants. In terms of musical growth, however, it's an encouraging listen: fierce acoustic guitars join Danielson's trademark vocal squeals and kiddy clapping, as the brothers harmonize about the Big Guy in the Sky. The band even tear a page from '60s girl groups in "Pottymouth," a puritan polemic against a bad date who -- gulp -- cusses.

-- Jay Ruttenberg