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Michael Stipe once said about Andy Kaufman: “If you believe there’s nothing up his sleeve, then nothing is cool.” But the Danielson Famile, NPR’s favorite indie-rock Bible-thumpers from New Jersey, offers a reversal of this formula: If you believe there’s something up the band’s sleeve, then it’s just another cheap novelty act. What’s exciting about Danielson is that its very unfashionable, very Christian, very countrified preaching could very well be the product of a true faith in Jesus rather than stale, annoyingly clever comedy. Who needs another bunch of sarcastic college kids ripping off someone else’s kitsch and passing it off as art, right? This ability to blur the line between pose and agit-pop ideology is what separates visionaries like Danielson (or, as far as I’m concerned, the Make*Up) from retro-happy hacks. If we live in the age of irony and remain (wrongly) convinced that any form of sincerity is a crime, I say let the Danielson Famile be dinosaurs…or futurists. It plays with Scientific at 10 p.m. at the Metro Cafe, 1522 14th St. NW. $8. (202)
588-9118. (Justin Moyer)