Write one funny song and you'll surprise the world with your cleverness. Your amusing tune might even get your band its big break on commercial radio. But write an entire album of funny songs and you're suddenly teetering on the edge of becoming a Novelty Act. Yep, that's right. Weird Al territory. God forbid.

Geoff Johnston, the warped stoner mastermind behind 'clip, writes amusing songs and delivers them in an appealing one guy/one guitar style -- think They Might Be Giants giving in to their baser impulses and playing R-rated coffeehouse music. Songs from the Mint Mansion outstrips 'clip's previous effort, 1999's Lo Fi Laugh, in practically every way. Whereas Lo Fi Laugh was scattershot-funny, Songs... is consistently superior, offering not just more laughs, but better laughs. Lo Fi Laugh offered only five songs; Songs... doubles the count. And while Lo Fi's CD-R quality was inconsistent, Songs from the Mint Mansion sparkles from beginning to end. In other words, it's consistently superior.

That's not to say that it's consistently sophisticated, 'cos it isn't. "Your Mom" takes its lyrics from the long and glorious history of "Your momma" jokes, and "Hard Nipples" reaches an epoch of coach potato masculinity with such winning couplets as "From Lucy Liu to Lucy Lawless / They're televising more and more broads goin' braless." That's not going to find its way onto a list of the human race's proudest moments any time soon.

But that's why we love 'clip, right? He's not afraid to admit that "Smoking's Cool", or to string together insipid pop lyrics on a "Mix Tape". And more importantly, every once in a while 'clip sneaks a dead-on piece of social criticism into the mix. "Molestache" skewers America's cheap beer drinkin', primer-colored-pickup-drivin', wife-beatin' subculture without missing a detail -- it's a brilliant piece of character analysis that's side-splittingly funny until you realize how pathetically accurate it is. "Whiteboy Wannabe Gangsta" -- an updated version of a song you'll find on the Boombox -- nails everybody's favorite middle class bad ass mall dweller so thoroughly that you'll remember it every time you spot a WASPy homeboy.

Yeah, 'clip writes songs like "Par-tay", which chronicles the aftermath of an ill-considered house party. Yeah, you'll eventually feel a bit stupid for laughing so hard at lines like "Why does my hand smell like ass" and even the rousing chorus of "Where did this midget come from?" Okay, maybe you'll never get tired of the midget thing. But despite its goofy moments, Songs from the Mint Mansion is deceptively clever. Johnston is evolving from a mildly amusing lyricist to a lethally deft social critic. Some day he's going to write a song about you, and all your friends will laugh.