Perennial Favorites [ENHANCED CD]

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Recorded over a year before its release and put on hold thanks to the phenomenal ride of 1996's Hot, their third release is where the jazz-hoppin' Squirrel Nut Zippers separate from the rest of the nostalgic Voodoo Cherry Daddy pack. Perennial Favorites covers a lot of ground: aching balladry ("Low Down Man," complete with pedal steel and intoned lovingly by chanteuse Katharine Whalen), hilarious show-tune homages ("Ghost of Stephen Foster"), romping props to the past ("Pallin' with Al," a nod to guitarist Al Casey). Thanks to imaginative arrangements, "The Kraken" and "My Drag" transcend retro hipness to forge unique sonic paths. "Suits Are Picking Up the Bill," a zingy diatribe on capitalism, may not turn out to be a smash hit like the earlier "Hell," but these Favorites should endure. --Don Harrison

Review

Perennial Favorites stresses mannered rethinks of Southern Big Band jazz... -- Entertainment Weekly

The Zippers bring swing out of mothballs with banjo, piano, horns, reeds, upright bass, Louis Jordan-style arrangements and a singer, Katharine Whalen, who does a fair impression of Billie Holiday. -- People, ISBN13: B000009PNN ISBN10: B000009PNN Material Type: audioCD