Brad Yoder challenges people of faith to think in "Someday or Never." Brad Yoder Band With: Mike Williams, Boca Chica. Where: Brew House, South Side. When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission: $8; $5 students; 412-381-7767; www.bradyoder.com.

If religion seems to be a running theme connecting any number of the more inspired moments on "Someday or Never," Brad Yoder's fourth album, it's not something he set out to do.

In fact, he didn't even notice until later, after hearing everything in context.

"It was not intentional," he says. "But on the other hand, it's stuff I've dealt with that runs through my brain. I think you sort of take whatever you grew up with, your own background, your own history, and make whatever you can out of that."

What he's made of it here is an album that challenges people of faith to think about what Jesus would have done before his teachings were dumbed down and twisted by people with something to gain. In "Famous," Yoder sings, "I've got this theory now that religion has been demoted to just another channel on TV." And then there's "WWJD?," Yoder's finest hour, where he uses the Jesus of Scripture like a sword to cut through all the ... let's just call it politics. In the opening line, he spits out, "Jesus hung with hookers, hung with hustlers, not with cops/And he made wine from water so the party wouldn't stop/And Jesus, he loved everyone, just like his Mom and Dad/'Cause Jesus knew the difference between broken and plain bad."

The backing tracks he uses here for "WWJD?" were recorded for "Used," his third album, and then shelved.

"I ran out of time," he begins. "But I had mixed feelings about the response I would get to that song in certain quarters, like my parents' siblings. And my mother's not exactly thrilled about it, although when I talk her through it, she kind of gets it."

For the record, his family has nothing to worry about. The singer is clearly in Jesus' corner on this one.

"That song was inspired," he says, "by being [angered] by the Christian channel at night, hearing somebody say that God would want Christians to be prosperous so that people would be attracted to your faith, which I thought just sort of turned religion into Amway. It's a long way from 'Love your enemy' and 'Blessed are the poor in spirit' to 'Gee, if I drive a Beemer, people will probably want to get in on that action.' "

Not every song here has a spiritual message. In fact, most don't. There's a heartbreaking tribute to Elliott Smith, a song about consumer culture that gets in some shots at our numbness to war, and an opening track that finds him looking for some simple fault to help him through a breakup. "Do you like Van Halen real loud?" he asks hopefully. "Have a thing for bands with umlauts?" Pause. "Except for Husker Du?"

It's a brilliant moment on an album stacked with brilliant moments, many of which find him tackling major existential issues with insight and humor.

And it sounds good, thanks, in part, to co-producer Peter Beckerman, who underscores the singer's more infectious moments with a sound just slick enough to give this record half a chance at being Yoder's breakthrough. That opening track, an upbeat pop song titled "1 Excuse" that rocks like Get Up Kids, could be the fluke hit Yoder dreamed about in "1 Hit Wonder" last time out. And "New Pill" isn't far behind.

He meant to have the record out in late 2005, but two things held it up, both tied to what Yoder refers to as "raging perfectionism." One was artwork placing Yoder in the illustrated context of Mike Budai's creations. The other was the mixing of a moody ballad called "Immortal."

"Peter and I did a mix," he explains. "And that was pretty cool, but it felt a little too slick when compared to an earlier rough mix. So then, I had a guy in Chicago remix it and that was OK but nothing so special." It took Mitch Easter, known for his production work with R.E.M., to give Yoder the mix he was after six months later.

"That's a song that I'm particularly proud of," Yoder says. "And I just didn't settle. I think what we got was worth it, but it was a really long process."

As much as Yoder agonizes over every little detail of the process, is he really, as he sings in "Famous," "just about as famous as I wanna be"?

"I think on some level we all have an inner 13-year-old that wants to be famous," he says, with a laugh. "But the satisfaction is in continuing to make music over time and get better at it and write songs that I care about and have other people care about them. If I'm in a coffee shop playing a song and I've got a couple people really listening, it doesn't have to matter to a zillion people. If it matters to one person, that's enough. I'm hoping to keep making music for a while, but I'm not expecting to be on the cover of Rolling Stone anytime soon. Or even on page 24. But it's a funny world."