Not enough bands take advantage of the element of surprise. I'm not talking about sudden ungodly volume boosts -- any moron can step on a distortion pedal -- but an unexpected shift into an entirely new kind of sound. Listening to an Amps for Christ album is like Christmas morning, in that you know another song is coming but you're completely unsure what kind of music it will be. If you've heard an AFC record before, however, you'll at least be able to make an educated guess. Primarily the project of ex-Man is the Bastard noise guitarist and organ molester Henry Barnes, AFC typically "limit themselves" to traditional British Isles folk songs, noise experiments, hardcore outbursts, raga, dueling electric guitar instrumentals and short spoken word pieces. On The People at Large, their sixth full-length, they even make room for two moving takes on "Auld Lang Syne".

As every positive Amps for Christ review has noted, Barnes and his collaborators have an uncanny knack for cohering a palatable listening experience out of this seemingly haphazard confluence of styles, and they're as successful as ever here. To fans of The Oak and the Ashes, the album's predecessor, The People at Large actually won't be so much a new surprise as a continuation of an ongoing marvel. They both boast 23 tracks and a similar range of genres, almost like they sprung from the same mammoth recording session.

Here, AFC hit the extreme poles of grotesque and gorgeous, the latter made up mostly of hushed, stunning folk songs, both traditional and original. Timeworn tunes like "The Morlough Shore" are given new life (and new spelling) here. As he's wont to do, Barnes counterbalances the song's prettiness by burying noisy guitar distortion just beneath its surface. Tara Tiki Tavi lends her beautiful voice to the British traditional "Prince Charlie Stuart", which also benefits from Barnes's catchy fiddling. Originals like "AFC Tower Song" (which bubbles with the same muddy guitar noise) and the downright lovely "Flower and Leaves" are just as strong, filled with finger-picked acoustic licks that would make even the most hand-calloused folkie jealous.

Barnes's several ventures into Indian raga are uniformly tasteful, though the best is the opener, "Tsaress". On the pure noise tracks, Barnes applies the controlled chaos he nursed in Man is the Bastard, as well as further exploiting his homemade instruments, single-ended tube amp and something he calls "caveman electronics".

The People at Large is sprawling, multifaceted and exciting. Even the spoken word bits, though unremarkable, add a politically charged element that only ups the album's resonance. The only other band out there (that I can think of) taking these kinds of chances with stylistic range is Cerberus Shoal. It's always reassuring to hear music that has such intoxicated disregard for commercial accessibility, but it's even better when it's this much fun.