On his new album Alpocalypse, veteran musical parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic takes on the expected subjects, including Lady Gaga, T.I. and Taylor Swift, with typically amusing but inconsistent results. He’s been doing this stuff for 30 years, and the quality of the parodies often depends on the quality of the music being parodied.

Not a whole lot has changed in that area, but Yankovic has progressed impressively as a songwriter in other ways. The best track on Alpocalypse is the original composition “Skipper Dan,” a catchy, bittersweet power-pop song about a failed actor working on the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland. It’s funny but also poignant, worth far more than the “novelty” label that Yankovic still carries. In concert, Yankovic focuses on shtick, but it’s engaging and energetic, with multiple costume changes and production numbers. He may take on easy targets, but he always finds a way to make it challenging.