Thanks, PeterT, that's sort of what I thought you meant, although I'd have been at a loss to name it.

One of the first things I ever learned on a rack with guitar was the Talking Heads Naive Song (this must be the place) which uses some bends but is nicely jangly and "open" feeling. It sounds pretty good, I think. I just enjoy doing it so much, I think if I use the sound for just the right things, I can keep it tasting good. I do more blues stuff now, but still I'm vaguely aware that there are limits to how much of the fun comes through to anyone listening.
But I inflict a few tunes that are fun to play, like In The Mood, on small children who usually can't tell it's sort of a grotesque parody.