The front cover for Benji Hughes' Merge debut features an oil painting-rendered photo of the hirsute, North Carolina-based pop purveyor sporting aviator sunglasses and vampire teeth.

However, what lies inside is not the swampy, True Blood-inspired cacophony of sultry, Southern gothic twang that Songs in the Key of Animals' misanthropic cover art would suggest, but a breezy, easy, and often cheesy amalgamation of girl-crazed blue-eyed soul and Chateau Marmont bungalow pop that falls somewhere between Beck, OutKast, and Harry Nilsson.

"People are Animals," says Hughes in the album's press release, and he takes that notion quite literally on the two-disc, 11-track LP, applying his well-honed production skills and goofy sense of humor (this is the man who helped write the brilliant "Let's Duet" from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story) to a set of left-field pop confections with titles like "Shark Attack!!!!!!!!!!," "Zebra," and "Peacockin' Party." There are hooks aplenty, as one would expect from an accomplished jingle writer, but there's also not a whole lot of depth, with many of the songs utilizing only a few signature phrases ("girls love shoes!") and rarely deviating from their stock melodies.

The ones that do branch out a bit, like the so-dumb-it's-clever ode to amour "Fall Me in Love," the driving "Magic Summertime," and the languid closer "? Take You Home," offer up a nice respite from all of the labored goofiness, but the whole affair feels a little half-baked.

A Tuesday afternoon pool party of a record, Songs in the Key of Animals sounds like a great time was had by all, but that you kind of had to be there to appreciate it.