Gordon Gano's mind is a profane weapon. The Violent Femmes' singer and songwriter established this Milwaukee trio's underground reputation with manic songs that unveiled a bratty, adolescent id and offered all the charm of John McEnroe's barking at linesmen.

Gordon Gano's heart is a spiritual vessel. In his spare time, he plays in a gospel band called Mercy Seat. They don't do songs about fathers who kill their children or about needing to get laid, as the Femmes do. But several of Gano's new songs wouldn't be out of place in a Mercy Seat set – with its observation that "the world is starved for love," "No Killing" is almost platitudinous enough for Kenny Rogers. A duet between Gano and Dolly Parton is still unlikely, but The Blind Leading the Naked does attempt to reconcile the profane and spiritual in his personality.

The album confronts this problem: When organized religion is a platform for selfish, sanctimonious conservatives whose idea of charity is military aid for Nicaraguan contras, what's a devout humanist to do? In "No Killing," an entranced Gano warns, "There's good/And there's evil/And there's evil/Disguised as good." And the theme of hypocrisy is elaborated in "Love & Me Make Three," which is about "a man who works for the Lord/Polishing the statues/When their faces look worn" but won't let Jesus in the church because his clothes are muddy.

Having identified the blind folks mentioned in the album title, Gano attends to the naked: "Heartache" and "Special" chronicle raging reactions to economic distress, disclosing a psychosis that Mellencamp and Springsteen have flirted with. The masterstroke of the album is a cover of T. Rex's "Children of the Revolution." Then, after an LP of struggle and strife, they close with the idyllic "Two People."

The language throughout is so gaunt it seems spontaneous. But the music takes another step beyond the Femmes' former two-chord jams (although "Good Friend" is an undisguised rewrite of the Velvets' "Sweet Jane"). With Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads handling production, the band solicits help from more than a dozen extra musicians, including Leo Kottke (acousticfolk specialist) and Fred Frith (improvised-noise specialist). Old Femmes fans will be surprised by the bittersweet Buddy Hollyisms of "Breakin' Hearts" and the Springsteen sax in "I Held Her in My Arms," but the band's infamous energy surfaces frequently, most oddly in the merry big-band blues of "Faith." Whether or not those who loved "Kiss Off" and "Country Death Song" will want to sing along with "I believe in the Father/I believe in the Son/I believe there's a Spirit/For everyone" is another question. (RS 472)

ROB TANNENBAUM