Gospel Pop

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday January 10, 2009

Bernard Zuel

WELCOME WAGON

Welcome To The Welcome Wagon

(Asthmatic Kitty-Inertia)

This husband-and-wife-singing-preachers duo, Reverend Vito and Monique Aiuto, have been produced by Sufjan Stevens, which is obvious about, oh, 10 seconds in. So much so, that you might wonder if it isn't the roaming musician himself.

There's the same sunniness and unconventional (for pop music) instrumentation aligned with a mix of Salvation Army-choir and summer-of-love vocal group arrangements. And of course there's a steady stream of praise the lord-ness. It's borderline amateurish at first glance, including the homespun cover, but soon reveals itself to be a much more sophisticated album.

Its optimism is balanced by the kind of production wiles you don't learn from the local Sunday school, the choir backing is underpinned by svelte guitars and the traditional tunes are matched by newer material from the likes of Lou Reed, Morrissey and Marr and Vito himself.

BZ

© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald

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