While most of us turned our senior theses into just another bullet point on our post-collegiate resumes, Daniel Smith, a.k.a. Brother Danielson of the Danielson Famile, turned his senior thesis at Rutgers University into a gorgeous and messy tribute to his real family's Christ-inspired living room singalongs. A good six albums and ten years later, Smith has dropped most of those other names to record his latest record, Ships, simply under the name "Danielson." Though not so much a family affair as most of his previous work, Ships does include Deerhoof as Smith's backing band, as well as contributions from heartthrob and musician Sufjan Stevens. Smith did production work on Stevens' between-states record Seven Swans, and Stevens has worked on past Danielson Famile records. While Ships has a release date of March 1 on Secretly Canadian, Smith will also drop three 7"-only releases sometime before the album, each under a different label (Kill Rock Stars, Anticon, and Sounds Familyre) and each with different people behind the boards (including Steve Albini and Mark Kramer). Tracklist for Ships: 01. Ship the Majestic Suffix 02. Cast It at the Setting Sail 03. Bloodbook on the Halfshell 04. Did I Step on Your Trumpet? 05. My Lion Sleep Tonight 06. Two Sitting Ducks 07. When It Comes to You I'm Lazy 08. Kids Pushing Kids 09. Time That Bald Sexton 10. He Who Flattened Your Flame Is Gettin' Torched 11. Five Stars and Two Thumbs Up www.soundsfamilyre.com
