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Michelle Shocked, true to her name, likes to surprise her fans.

She’s shifted from the simple, self-accompanied folksongs of her first album, [The] Texas Campfire Tapes, to the big band-era jazz of her current Captain Swing (her debut was recorded on a Walkman by a campfire at a folk festival; her latest features full-scale orchestrations and a horn section).

Between the two she recorded and released Short Sharp Shocked, comprised of angry calls for activism and folk-flavored feminism.

So, who would’ve guessed she had a sense of humor?

Currently in view on MTV is Shocked’s video for “On the Greener Side,” from Captain Swing. A hilarious send-up of Robert Palmer’s series of videos depicting women as attractive androids, Shocked turns the tables and treats men in much the same manner.

While the slyly smiling Shocked sings, well-dressed hunks mime to the music behind her. Cut-aways and close-ups of tightly clothed male derrieres carry her point to its amusing extreme.

So, despite her change in styles, Shocked seems to be clinging firmly to her feminist views. She still remains an activist, as well, and will be appearing April 21 at the Earth Day Concert in Washington D.C., along with Bruce Hornsby, Ziggy Marley, and 10,000 Maniacs.

Shocked also appears at Bogart’s in Cincinnati this Tuesday. The good-looking guys from the video probably won’t be joining her, but the full band and horn section from Captain Swing will. She plans to play material spanning all three of her albums.

Opening for Shocked will be Poi Dog Pondering, a multimember, Texas-based band. The Poi Dogs have an upbeat, spirited sound that recalls Remain in Light-era Talking Heads.

Touring in support of its second Columbia release, Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like the Sea, the band’s exuberant, energetic live show is well-worth an early arrival.