Squirrel Nut Zippers

Item: Perennial Favorites
Author: Shari Lloyd

Perennial Favorites

(1998)

Reviewed by Shari Lloyd

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Spotify YouTube Music

Label Mammoth RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1998

jazz swing

The Squirrel Brand Company was started in 1888 by a Mr. Purlie Garish and a friend. It was, and still is, a candy manufacturer. In the 1920's they developed a chewy, vanilla caramel called the "Squirrel Nut Zipper." According to the Squirrel Brand Company, it got its name from a Boston newspaper headline about a man "who had gotten a hold of some contraband alcohol drink apparently called a Nut Zipper. This man, after drinking too many of these, crawled up a tree over the main street and wouldn't come down. And so the headline read something to the effect of 'The Squirrel Nut Zipper.'"

Wait! Oh, you wanted to learn more about Squirrel Nut Zippers, the band, not the candy or drunkard? Well, the North Carolina Squirrel Nut Zippers began when Jim Mathus (vocals, trombone) and Katharine Whalen (vocals, banjo) left Chapel Hill, North Carolina for the rural splendor of that state. Together, they renovated an old farm house, and filled the rest of their time making puppets, painting, and listening to old jazz records. Soon they were playing along with those records, inviting their friends over to play with them, and starting to record their own. Five albums later we have the Perennial Favorites. As a play on the name, the case is designed to resemble a vintage seed catalog complete with order form, but this is not a re-working of standards and classics. Perennial Favorites is more like a real, antique, patchwork quilt. The parts aren't always perfect, but they're woven together with loving care. And the squares are all different. You won't find another song like their hit "Hot," but you'll find plenty of colorful variety.

The album starts off with an upbeat Dixieland, and, perhaps, autobiographical tune, "Suits are Picking Up the Bill":

In a line at the cafe,
I overheard the waitress say
'These cats is broke I knows 'em!
Throw 'em out the door and close 'em.'
Spirits sagging,
Funds are sagging,
Funds are low,
This occupation has got to go.
Up pulls a limo--up goes the thrill,
The Suits are picking up the bill.

"Low Down Man," a languished Billie Holiday sounding tune, is next. Then "Ghost of Stephen Foster" shines brightly, followed by an updated klezmer version of "Camptown Race." "Pallin' with Al" is sure to set your toe tapping. On "My Drag" Whalen again sings with her brooding Billie Holiday-type voice, but, instead of the blues, we are treated to a tango. You get the idea--there is plenty of diversity here and most of it is rooted in thirties-style music. The instruments are just as diverse: saxes, trombones, banjos, pianos, bass, cornet, drums, violins. The lyrics aren't deep, but they're just what you need to bring a smile to your face and a tap to your toes after a hard day's work. Unfortunately, the album is only 38:49 minutes long. As they say in the last song: "Just when you think the party's starting...It's over."

While this album isn't straight swing, Perennial Favorites is sure to attract the same crowd looking for something a little different in their music. There's a lot of creativity here--just what you'd expect from someone playing with puppets on breaks from renovating an old home in the rural South.

4 tocks