September 1, 1998

Squirrel Nut Zippers new album should be a perennial favorite

Kevin Kobos, Staff Writer
 

With the success of their last album, plus the popularity of the “neo-swing” movement that infiltrates the music scene today, the new album by Squirrel Nut Zippers is almost guaranteed to be a hit.

But wait! A listener might not be buying what he expects.

This album, while it is still jazzy, does not contain the in-your-face type of jazz which has now come to be expected from “neo-swing” bands.

Squirrel Nut Zippers were themselves a big part of this new movement, thanks to the single “Hell” off their last album. Since then, bands like the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy have fed the fire with fully energized swing albums.

The closest this album comes to this catchy new swing movement is with the song “Trau Macacq,” which contains hints of “Hell”.  The rest of the album, though, is a pleasant variation. Perhaps the best way I’ve heard it described is as “Dixieland jazz.” It’s  a nice, lazy style, perfect for iced tea out on an old wooden, swinging chair on the front porch.  Delicate songs like “The Kraken” and “Low Down Man” can send the listener into a careless dreamland, perhaps an imaginary country garden.

For a little help in being whisked away, one only needs to look at the album’s artwork. The CD booklet and case is modeled after old fashioned seed packets, helping to add more to the feeling of going back in time to an old Mississippian farmhouse. To balance the album with some fast, catchy tunes, “The Ghost of Stephen Foster” and “Fat Cat Keeps Getting Fatter,” along with a couple other songs fill the album nicely.

The CD is an Enhanced CD, which means it contains extra information to be explored on a computer. The ECD portion is full of nice audio and video clips. The entire video for “Put a Lid on It” from the album “Hot” is also included. This nice addition gives a lot of information about the band, which really helps the listener get to know the band and perhaps even begin to understand the spirit of their music.