Go ahead and get those jokes out of your system now. Dick Deluxe (not his birth name, sorry) is a busker from out California way, the kind of ex-­hippie who can boast of some Steve Miller and Cleanhead Vinson gigs on his resume and now lands here, trying to use this city’s cracked mirror to get a glimpse into himself in this weird new century.

At least, that’s the idea. Using old Airline Highway as a yardstick for America’s storied promise of whatever is a trick as old as Dylan, but Dick takes a more John Prine, shaggy-­dog existentialist approach with titles like “I’m Quitting Dope Next Month” and “It’s an 11­-Car Winter.” Unfortunately, great titles are where these songs begin and end—if you were looking for some new insight from a song like “Last Time Buddy Holly Crossed 61,” go ahead and lower that bar on your expectations. “Break Out the Party Hats” means he’s in love, ditto “I Love Inez,” and “Gulf Coast Blues Party” sounds more like a Facebook event than a song. “Sputnik Monroe” is his big character portrait, and the setting is lovely, but as a sketch of the wrestler who helped desegregate the sport, his Wikipedia entry has more personal detail. Dick’s vocals are not up to painting portraits on even this small of a canvas: he’s simply all over the place, which means that even a glimmer of introspection like “I Fail” goes flat.