Rising from one of the largest college services in the nation, at The Flood in San Diego, comes Something Like Silas - a band that does worship music in a different way. The Flood and Something Like Silas are symbiotic - they were both born at the same time and are inexorably linked; all five members of Silas are a deeply involved in The Flood and play there at least two thirds of the weekends of the year. Services at The Flood are what is known as "emerging worship" - a post-modern style that emphasizes interaction and artistic expression in the midst of the worship and teaching. "We want to change the way people look at worship bands," says Eric Owyoung, the band's lead singer.

Divine Invitation, then, is the perfect vehicle for Owyoung's stated mission. Though worshipful through and through, the record does not typify what we know understand to be modern worship, with the corporate, sing-a-long style choruses and easy to remember lyrics. Divine Invitation is, in some ways, the anti-modern-worship worship album. It is moody, brooding, environmental, alternative, and impassioned. Musical influences, which flavor rather than dominate the production, range from The Violet Burning to Sixpence None the Richer to Radiohead and U2.

Something Like Silas breaks the mold of what worship music can and should sound like; beyond that, Divine Invitation is simply a fantastic alt-rock record. San Diego already lays claim to two great national bands - P.O.D. and Switchfoot. The count is now up to three.