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It’s an old American adage that nothing sells like success. So given Michelle Shocked’s approach to working within the “system,” it should come as no surprise that her latest album abandons her acoustic singer/songwriter motif for something altogether bouncier in the land of Captain Swing. “It does seem like it’s coming out of left field to a lot of people,” Shocked admits, adding “I’m also getting from both ends that it’s too commercial for some fans who were attracted by the intimate approach of Short Sharp Shocked, and it’s not commercial enough for the record company and management, who are having a hard time finding a place for this stuff outside the context of ‘women in rock.’” Certainly, her current show, which arrives in Seattle 5/23 at the Paramount, boasts a little bit more in the way of instrumentation, featuring a full band, all in the cause of bringing swing to the masses. “What I’m doing, is I’m explaining the term ‘luff,’ which is a sailing term,” says Shocked of her show. “You can’t sail in the same direction that the wind is blowing…in other words, you can’t always swim against the current. So, what you have to do, you have to loosen the sail so that it slacks, and then you can gather up speed…turn one way and then turn the other way. And that’s pretty much the approach I’ve taken with this swing stuff.” Or, it would seem, working within the record industry. Captain Swing himself turns out to be somewhat of a subversive fellow; it was the name peasants would leave after burning down the boats of wealthy landowners in the 19th century. Shocked’s show (with JOHN WESLEY HARDING also on the bill; should be just as hot, though the only fires set off will be the ones in your soul.