Music Review: Snider rotest music has funny side (AP)

Todd Snider, "Peace Queer" (Aimless)

As Todd Snider explains it, the cover of his self-released EP "Peace Queer" shows him blindfolded and held hostage at gunpoint by a shirtless hippie demanding protest music.

Snider's muse can be amusing, and as songs with a political bent go, this batch is a hoot. It starts with "Mission Accomplished (Because You Gotta Have Faith)," a jab at George Bush with a George Michael beat. The finale "Is This Thing On?" is a parable about a school bully that applies to American foreign policy.

Those are the bookends to an eight-song set that's more funny than angry but passionate, too. Snider performs a stinging acoustic cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son," tells the tale of a resolute disfigured vet on "The Ballad of Cape Henry," and sings a eulogy for his flawed Uncle Sam on "Dividing the Estate (A Heart Attack)." A line in the opening tune sums up the theme: "Fighting for peace — that's like screaming for quiet."

CHECK THIS OUT: Leave it to Snider to title a lovely instrumental "Ponce of the Flaming Peace Queer."