Twenty years ago the Squirrel Nut Zippers were an international sensation. The band, which many had initially considered a novelty act playing retro lounge music, sold over 1.3 million copies of their second album Hot on the strength of the single “Hell.” The band is back on the road and will celebrate the reissue of the landmark album Saturday night at Tipitina’s.
The newly remastered version of Hot, along with a bonus track “The Puffer,” is in stores today on Hollywood Records. The album, long out of print on record, makes its glorious return to wax on 180-gram vinyl.
While their debut album, The Inevitable was critically lauded in some circles, times were different in the summer of 1996. While the neo-trad movement had taken hold in New Orleans—I have argued led by Kermit Ruffins’ solo career and a swing revival said to be underway nationally—the widespread movement away from electric instruments towards acoustic guitars, horn sections, fiddles, and old timey roots music was still in the future.
Of course, it’s now commonplace to see trumpets, saxophones, and string instruments on stage with mainstream pop acts. In New Orleans, funk, rock, and soul have essentially been replaced by traditional jazz on Frenchmen Street with dozens of bands mining the music of the 1920s and 1930s.
Though the new version of the Squirrel Nut Zippers only features two original members—founder and conceptual visionary Jimbo Mathus recruited musicians from the fertile New Orleans scene to bring his band back to life, including vocalist Ingrid Lucia, trombonist Charlie Halloran, trumpeters Kevin Lewis and David Boswell, saxophonist Henry Westmoreland, drummer Kevin O’Donell, bassist Tamara Nicholai, pianist Leslie Martin, and Dr. Sick on violin, saw, and banjo.
What makes the Squirrel Nut Zippers such a great band is a combination of an effervescent stage show and great original music. Their music mixed up genres during a period of time when this was less common than it is today. Delta blues, a style Mathus has re-embraced since the band’s heyday, gypsy jazz, and hot New Orleans-style horns are hallmarks of their sound—along with erudite lyrics sometimes sung with tongue firmly in cheek.
The reconfigured band has played six shows so far, including a prestigious gig at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and they embark on a major national tour in September that extends through mid-November. Dates are here.
I was fortunate enough to see the band several times back in the day and I give readers fair warning. The first time they played New Orleans, the show wasn’t even sold out. By the last local gig, there was a line of disappointed folks heading down the block. Catch ‘em while you can!
