Deep Elm Records have an insanely diverse catalog. From political punkers like Latterman to chameleon sound shifters like Appleseed Cast, they’ve pulled bands from all corners of the musical landscape onto their label. Muckafurgason fills the joke-band slot with their newest, The Pink Album. And they’re not shy of their humor-based pop: track two, “Dictionary,” is about — you guessed it — dictionaries, and explains, “It’s a book about words and their derivations!” Muckafurgason have proved themselves champions of the funny song. They’re genre-hoppers without shame, picking and choosing a riff, melody, or trend as they see fit: a punched up romp through the definitions of definition, to a slow, moody, British-accented walk through the life of a “Part-Time Rockstar,” each one has its place amongst the chuckles.

What is most impressive is not their ability to write funny songs, but how effortlessly they shift into any genre they choose. Switching immediately from a raucous “’I wanna get…’ KC” to a ‘60s slow burner in “Why Don’t You Get Married,” the prowess with which Muckafurgason can wear any musical mask is almost bewildering in consideration of the talentless pop machine that churns out an “artist” every few months. Each song comes at you with the earnestness of a parody, but not a single one actually is. And that is proficient song craft.

Muckafurgason, however, seem trapped in the ‘90s and earlier. Each song sounds legitimate, more than just a stab at a genre, but with the best of the joke songsters, there is an urgency and relevance that is lacking here. Sure, the songs are perfectly traced pop songs switched up with mostly mom-safe laugh-lyrics, but they miss in that we are getting riffs on well-worn styles, not the sounds of the day. And further: how relevant is the joke-song in this day and age? These are the questions The Pink Album raises, and they’re hard to ignore when considering the superficiality of a cheap laugh in a quick ditty pop song.

(Deep Elm Records, 210 N. Church Street, Suite 2502, Charlotte, NC 28202)