Stephen W. Terrell is a highly literate humorist. Well, he’s also some kinda music journalist down in Santa Fe. Anyway, Picnic Time (which reprises nine cuts from its successor, Pandemonium Juke_box) restores his music to print after two ill-fated bouts with indie labels in the ’80s. Or after two bouts with ill-fated indie labels.
Writing funny songs is an admirable thing, but building an entire album full — or career; witness Kinky Friedman — is problematic. Nobody is that funny, and enduring records are generally able to establish multiple moods. So 21 tracks of Mr. Terrell’s acute, post-hippie wit is a bit much. Nevertheless, some of these tracks are first-rate, notably “Cajun Clone” (okay, it’s a novelty song) and the keenly written “Solar Broken Home”. Perfect encore fodder.
