In the indie universe, Low is truly a black hole of influence. They have had an indescribable gravitational pull on all similar acts that came after them. Funny thing is, neither of us have been especially impressed with their live performances until now. In a set consisting mostly of material from their last two albums, Low delivered an incredibly tight performance that balanced their Neil Young-ish harmonies with their trademark whispering drum brushes. (Squid thought they were Garfunkel-esque harmonies for a second. But just a second.) It was all of the aspects of their sound that we love without any of the tedious meanderings that lo-fi shows can fall victim to. In a final stroke of layering genius, they were joined by Mark Kozelek for a...you guessed it, Neil Young cover.

This was finally our chance to see the Danielson Famile, the 'christian' band born of founding member Daniel Smith's senior thesis and populated with his brother and sisters. Smith, or Brother Daniel as he is commonly referred to, certainly did not disappoint with his manic acoustic guitar scrapings and high-pitched shrieked vocals. Even the cute synchronized routines that sisters Megan and Rachel perform can’t mask the intensity of the mood. Worshipful or not, at times it was minimalist punk at its finest with its fierce energy.

There are truly epic dichotomies to be tackled with a band like this. While we understand their origins to be Christian in nature, the stereotypical naivete and social inexperience usually associated with this genre of music are significantly absent. In fact, there is an almost nagging sense of orchestration to a Danielson Famile performance. Band members are dressed in completely white medical outfits (girls in nurse gear, boys in surgical scrubs) accented in red hearts. (The design for these hearts, incidentally, is strikingly similar to that of Mexican milagros, or small tin medals shaped like body parts worn in hopes of alleviating pain.) While these costumes are meant, according to Smith, to represent spiritual healing, there are certainly other (possibly unconsciously imposed) signifiers at play. Red and white are also colors associated with the Pentecost, which in turn brings to mind the evangelical splinter movements within different religions inspired by this particular Holy Day.

While there is no doubt of Smith’s commitment to evangelism, there is also no question that the look of his band was very carefully manufactured. (Witness their recent partnership with Fluevog to create their own brand of shoe.) This is not to say that Smith is a Christian Malcolm McLaren, only to note that each show is just as much of a product as any other indie gig one attends. In the same way that the Twee movement has capitalized on irony by popularizing nerdy clothing, The Danielson Famile have coerced the mainstream into accepting their Christian personae via kick-ass, acoustic punk-pop. Actually, perhaps a correlation between Smith and McLaren is not so far-fetched. To make an obscenely vast generalization, Pentacostals are Punks in their zeal and commitment to certain hardcore ideologies. In the most absolute sense, both groups are willing to be ostracized on the grounds of spiritual and conceptual belief systems. The Danielson Famile are the unprecedented marriage of these seemingly distant schools of being.