Underrated Marshall Crenshaw flies under the pop radar

“When I introduce the song in front of an audience I usually say, ‘See if you can guess which disturbing documentary mostly inspired this song,’ ” he says, before refusing to name the actual film. “I think it’s better to just leave some wiggle room in the minds of the listeners as to what it’s about.”

The cover selection on the I Don’t See You Laughing Now EP is a new take on the Move’s “No Time”, a 1971 song that Crenshaw describes as “unique and very beautiful”.

“I was one of the few American fans of the Move back when they were still functioning as a unit,” he contends. “They had an album called Shazam that got promoted for half-a-minute in America, and I heard a song from it on FM radio and just got completely hooked.”

The EP’s final cut is a reworking of “There She Goes Again”, a tune from Crenshaw’s ’82 debut, which he recorded live with Missouri-based alt-country rockers the Bottle Rockets.

“They’re great guys,” he declares. “We got paired up a couple years ago, and now I’ve been doing tours with them fairly regularly. We just did a nice run in January where we started out in Ohio and worked our way down to Florida.”

Although relatively unknown to the masses, Crenshaw’s status as a songwriter’s songwriter means established acts are willing to take him out on tours. He’s calling in the midst of a four-day drive to L.A., where he’ll begin a West Coast trek with former Blaster Dave Alvin’s current band.

“I guess that’s kinda how it goes,” he says, “although once in a while, when I play in New York City, I have to round up some of the usual suspects from around there. But, yeah, when I tour now it’s either solo or with the Bottle Rockets, and now I’m attempting this thing with Dave Alvin, which I think is gonna be great. It should be.”