After a four-year hiatus from recording, Loudon Wainwright III has returned with his ninth album, Fame and Wealth. Armed with high-caliber puns and accompanied, for the most part, only by his acoustic guitar, Wainwright examines social situations with cockeyed perception, bringing into focus ironies that otherwise might have escaped us.

Wainwright's songs are both biting and poignant, alternately displaying chutzpah and schmaltz. On "The Grammy Song," for example, Wainwright imagines he finally wins the coveted statuette: "I ran up onstage in my tux/I gulped and I said, 'Aw, shucks.'" He thanks his producer and Jesus Christ, but by the next week, he's running around with the likes of Bo Derek and Meryl Streep. On "IDTTYWLM"–"I don't think that your wife likes me" – the singer's conversational tone and Mark Hardwick's piano recall Tom Waits at his best. But Wainwright prevents his cockiness from turning grating by adding a smirk to the Steve Martin-style "jerk" in his voice: "Maybe it's because I'm famous/Yeah, maybe she's just a little bit jealous." But by the end, the song takes a Randy Newman-like turn: "You know, I detest your wife..../Why do you suppose that that is?/I don't know."

But there is a lighter side to Wainwright's songwriting, as evidenced by "Five Years Old," a number that celebrates childhood while expressing Wainwright's regret at missing his daughter's birthday party. Though he's not an exceptional melodist or guitarist (the instrumental fireworks here are supplied by guitarist Richard Thompson on the opening track, "Reader and Advisor"), Loudon Wainwright is an entertaining singer/songwriter. It's good to have him back. (RS 395)

JODY DENBERG