Danielson Famile

The only thing more difficult to listen to than a new Danielson Famile album is a Danielson Famile album that was recorded way back when, before the Smith family gained a name for their offbeat style. A band that people find rather interesting or hate, however you want to look at them, the Famile is an extraordinary bunch. Recorded back in 1994, A Prayer for Every Hour isn't as bad as you might think. In fact, it's quite a rewarding record, if you can get over Daniel Smith's absurd vocals. Comprised of 24 tracks and an additional CD-Rom (filled with home movies of performances, a prayer and a video for "Headz In Da Cloudz"), the album is a good lesson for those unfamiliar with the collective. To the untrained ear "Like A Vacuum" appears to be a track that Anthony Michael Hall performed when he was high in The Breakfast Club, but no, it's Smith bashing away on a guitar and laughing while he says, "I can't function." The aforementioned "Headz In Da Cloudz" is actually one of the more coherent tracks on the record, even though it doesn't really go anywhere other than the boundaries of an early Blonde Redhead rehearsal. What is so great about this record and the Famile is that it is pure unadulterated nonsense and, at times, we all need a little bit of jumbled noise in our lives.