Squirrel Nut Zippers: Bedlam Ballroom
Mammoth
Rating: B+
Now here’s a band that knows how and when to evolve. On their previous releases, they recreated the hot jazz and Tin Pan Alley sound of the early ‘20’s through ‘40’s. But now on their fifth full length for Mammoth Records, they venture into an array of styles that plays like an aural history of the evolution of jazz. Latin, Bebop, R&B, Funk, Torchlight, it’s all here and executed so concise like only The Squirrel Nut Zippers can do. They have so often been lumped in with the Swing revival, a scene that they were not really even part of, but “Bedlam” should prove that they are so much more. Of course this, like their previous releases, includes an enhanced track which features the animated video for last years Ghost Of Steven Foster, plus some other great multi-media.
V.L.
