What a bunch of jokers, those boys in Iron Lasso! (The exclamation point is theirs, by the way). You have to have a few funny bones in your pickin' hand to create your own campy bluegrass arrangements of Tommy James and the Shondells' (later Tiffany's) "I Think We're Alone Now" and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," which is exactly what this quintet does on its new release, Live at Camp Rude Bluegrass Festival. If that doesn't give you the idea that these guys like to play around, check out the stage names: "Dr. C.J. Lightning, Ph.D," "Rev. Lieutenant Eddie Diamond," "Sisco Cardanio," "'Pistol' Dick Oakland" and "Mitchel Perez." Iron Lasso! usually claims to be from Missoula, although they've also been known to call Bald Knob home from time to time (a city which I formerly thought only existed in the context of Beavis and Butthead Do America). The Iron boys played a particularly crowd-pleasing show at Parkfield, Calif.'s Camp Rude festival this past Mother's Day weekend, and the results provide for a stomping, grinning, back-slapping-good live album. The only problem is the number of songs followed by someone in the band saying, "Mighty fine." Time for a new adjectival closer, guys. Music doesn't usually inspire laughter unless it's really bad, but Iron Lasso! has found a way to get silly while retaining the integrity of its musicianship-which, by the way, is fantastic.

Mike Keefe-Feldman