Father John Misty, Omar Velasco

Father John Misty has always been in on the joke, even when folks didn’t even realize he was joking. He emerged on the scene with 2012’s Fear Fun, his absolutely killer debut album that ruthlessly satirized the bravado of the male rock-and-roll ego. The problem was he played the part too well with his dry comedic banter and cocky on-stage peacocking, so many folks missed the punchline entirely. His sharp satirical tongue continued to spit venom on the similarly stellar I Love You, Honeybear, but on subsequent albums he began to lay things on less thick and just focus on making finely crafted rock songs, seemingly exhausted by the continued misreading of his work. But he’s still got some of that comedic fire in him as the title on his new career-spanning compilation album — Greatish Hits: I Followed My Dreams and My Dreams Said to Crawl — indicates. And regardless of whether you’re in on it, FJM still puts on one of the best rock shows in the biz.

Father John Misty, Omar Velasco • Wed, Sept. 18 at 8 pm • $35 • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com