The idea behind Church of Betty is a simple one, and you've probably heard something like it before. Basically, their goal to successfuly integrate Indian and Pakistani instruments with Western pop and rock songs. If you've heard other bands try this, you've also heard a lot of them fail. Miserably.

Church of Betty succeeds, pretty much. That's largely because CoB leader Chris Rael has a sense of restraint and a clue about track sequencing, and follows the driving tabla-rock rhythm of "The Magic in You" with the mid-tempo sitar fun of "I Swim In You". The more rock-centric title track enhances its rhythm with the tabla as it gently apes a lounge-act incarnation of Radiohead. And "Deep in the Ocean" serves up a killer tabla solo at speeds that rival drum 'n' bass. Rael also employs Eastern vocal styles, which seem quite appropriate after the initial shock wears off.

What's essential here is balance. When the scales tip too far in rock's favor, Church of Betty sound like a second-rate Poi Dog Pondering. When the Eastern material gets too dense, the guitars drag the band into Grateful Dead territory. Luckily, neither of these problems occurs very often or for very long. You might still dismiss Fruit on the Vine as a proggish novelty, but you'd be missing the point -- for once, here's a band with not only the will to experiment, but the skill to pull it off.