The Damascene conversion is among the most arresting images in the Western canon. Blinding light, a fallen horseman, the voice of God cutting through the dust of the ancient road — it is the definitive metaphor for transformation so violent and complete that the self that arrives at the journey's end bears little resemblance to the self that began it. It is, then, a bold thing for a songwriter to lay claim to. Most who try mistake the word *spiritual* for *vague*, and produce something so airless and non-committal that it might serve equally well as a loyalty card jingle. Don Sechelski, with this quietly devastating new single, does not make that mistake.

The name is almost too perfect. Gee Whiz! — that exclamation mark doing considerable heavy lifting — suggests a band constitutionally incapable of playing it cool, a gang of enthusiasts who've never once considered whether their love of melody might be embarrassing. And honestly, thank God for them.