Pop music is rarely considered clever or pithy, but try telling that to Scottish pranksters the Trashcan Sinatras, whose witty command of language brings to mind the best of Groucho Marx and Tom Lehrer. After being “discovered” playing in a rural pub, the group became unlikely alt-rock heroes in 1990 with the release of Cake, which resulted in their biggest worldwide hit single to date, “Obscurity Knocks,” as well as yielding longtime radio staples like “Circling the Circumference” and “Only Tongue Can Tell.”

It took three years, most of them spent touring, to brainstorm a follow-up, I’ve Seen Everything, which was certainly a more polished and radio-friendly album than its predecessor, though by that time the band’s constant exposure on the road and on MTV (who plucked that album’s “Hayfever” single for Beavis and Butt-head) had caused their welcome to be somewhat worn out. It’s not easy to find their next album, which wasn’t even released in America, and by 1996 they had no label, had sold their Shabby Road recording studio, and were in bankruptcy court.

Several comeback recordings were attempted in the early 2000s, and they embarked on their first U.S. tour in over a decade in 2004, but few of their releases since then have attracted much more than occasional press and moderate concert crowds. It’s a shame that so few noticed, let alone listed to, catchy singles like their 2008 ode to Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett, “Oranges and Apples,” but it looks like, at least for now, pretty much all anyone wants to hear from the band is music from Cake and I’ve Seen Everything. To that end, Trashcan Sinatras will perform acoustic versions of both albums at the Casbah on May 16.