Customer Reviews

Susquehanna

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I won't say much, because the first three reviews on Google said just about the same things I want to say. Basically, for fans of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' non-Zoot Suit Riot albums, this will be awesome. They have songs that span all kinds of genres: ska, punk, jazz, rock, country, swing and more. A lot of the songs on this album have a more latin twist as well.

If you're expecting a swing album like Zoot Suit Riot, you will be disappointed, but you might know that already if you have listened to any of their other 4 albums.

Listen to Bust Out and Arrancate (English and Spanish versions of the same song). Those songs have been stuck in my head for the entire week since I first heard them.

I have several of the Daddies CD's from the 1990's. I saw them play live many times in Seattle before they became more popular and mainstream with Zoot Suit Riot. I hadn't listened to any of their new stuff until I tried a few sample songs here on Amazon. I ordered a used CD and was pleasantly suprised. This is one of a few CDs I can just listen to over and over. In my opinion it is much better then Skaboy JFK which I also picked up used.

In the decade since the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' breakthrough compilation "Zoot Suit Riot," much as changed in the music landscape. The opportunities for success on a mass scale have further fragmented amidst the decline of commercial radio and the isolation tanks of iPods, and the chance of a left-field revival combining `40s swing and `60s ska is just that much more remote. Older and wiser, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies seem to realize that the opportunity for a commercial career revival is likewise slim and that like their earliest efforts, their best direction is to follow their musical muse. That thinking has lead them back to ska beats, but wedded more often to south-of-the-border flourishes than big band swing. Flamenco provides the heavily strummed guitars, handclaps and castanets of "Roseanne," and the flute-and-guitar of "Breathe" echoes Brazillian jazz of the 1960s. The album is neatly bookended by English and Spanish-language versions of "Bust Out" ("Arra'ncate"). The horn and rhythm sections still swing dancers around the floor, as on the manic ska "White Trash Toodle Oo" and the mid-tempo rockabilly "The Mongoose and the Snake," but it's no longer the band's only calling card. There are some new elements here, including the vocal harmonies that end "Blood Orange Sun," the cool organ of "Hammerblow," and the surprisingly straight rock of "Julie Grave." There are a few weak links stacked up at disc's end ("The Good Things" sounds like mediocre `70s soft-rock, and the vocal on "Wingtips" sounds like a rehearsal), but overall, fans will enjoy this new helping of the `Daddies ska-based eclecticism. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

1. Bust Out
2. The Mongoose and the Snake
3. Hi and Lo
4. Blood Orange Sun
5. White Trash Toodle oo
6. Julie Grave
7. Rosanne
8. Hammerblow
9. Tom the Lion
10. Wingtips
11. Breathe
12. The Good Things
13. Arrancate