Susan Frances
10/01/08, 01:08 PM
Cherry Poppin’ Daddies - Susquehanna
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: June 10, 2008
The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies are a modern day zoot suit rock machine whose latest release Susquehanna has shavings of swing jazz rock, SoCal ska, ‘50s rockabilly punk, Spanish wafting mariachi, reggae soul, and old western country. Formed by lead singer/bandleader Steve Perry, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies makes music that is full of fun and surprisingly entertaining for a band that dabbles in big band stylized horns and rockabilly inspired piano keys.
The Spanish flavored keys and mariachi pouncing horns of “Bust Out” are entangled in old western country guitar strings making listeners feel like they are in the middle of Clint Eastwood’s picture High Noon. The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies show a deep affinity for Spanish influenced rock like the Tex Mex induced “Rosanne” with fiery flamenco guitar chords and catchy handclapping beats, and the final track “Arrancate” as Perry sings the lyrics in Spanish with a rockabilly slant in his register something like Elvis meets Enrique Iglesias. But the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies do dice-up their music a bit by using factions of reggae soul in numbers like “Hammerblow,” “High and Lo” and “Blood Orange Sun” reminiscent of Pepper’s wiffle sounding SoCal ska, some airy Acapulco-like beats and wavy flutes in “Breathe,” and a pinch of slow rising beach-punk and hip shaking grooves in “Tom the Lion.”
Even when the band goes back in time with the sleek punk phrasing and vintage rock engravings of “Julie Grave” and “The Mongoose and the Snake,” with its ‘50s rockabilly punk and big band rock, which was synonymous with bands dressed in zoot suits back then, the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies keep the music alive with a modern skein liken to the Brian Setzer Orchestra. The big band jazz flash in the brass section through songs like “White Trash Toodle oo” and “Wingtips” feel like Frank Sinatra sings Green Day, but when the band relaxes into the laid back soft country rock vapors of “The Good Things,” it is as if they were overcome by old Glen Campbell records and reflect over days gone by in the past. Perry’s words for “The Good Things” are executed with a pensive look back, “I remember the way she looked when she left that night / All covered in roses / It must have been roses / Please let me remember / I wanna remember only the good things / Only the good things.”
There are only good things to say about the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies new album Susquehanna. Jazz and punk are often perceived as being completely diametrically opposing styles, but when they are brought together the way that the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies do it, they go together like cherries and chocolate fudge. One complements the other and they taste better together than apart. So too do the textural shavings that the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies use for Susquehanna.
The Cat Empire, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Pepper, Mad Caddies, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
www.myspace.com/cherrypoppindaddies (http://www.myspace.com/cherrypoppindaddies)
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: June 10, 2008
The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies are a modern day zoot suit rock machine whose latest release Susquehanna has shavings of swing jazz rock, SoCal ska, ‘50s rockabilly punk, Spanish wafting mariachi, reggae soul, and old western country. Formed by lead singer/bandleader Steve Perry, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies makes music that is full of fun and surprisingly entertaining for a band that dabbles in big band stylized horns and rockabilly inspired piano keys.
The Spanish flavored keys and mariachi pouncing horns of “Bust Out” are entangled in old western country guitar strings making listeners feel like they are in the middle of Clint Eastwood’s picture High Noon. The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies show a deep affinity for Spanish influenced rock like the Tex Mex induced “Rosanne” with fiery flamenco guitar chords and catchy handclapping beats, and the final track “Arrancate” as Perry sings the lyrics in Spanish with a rockabilly slant in his register something like Elvis meets Enrique Iglesias. But the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies do dice-up their music a bit by using factions of reggae soul in numbers like “Hammerblow,” “High and Lo” and “Blood Orange Sun” reminiscent of Pepper’s wiffle sounding SoCal ska, some airy Acapulco-like beats and wavy flutes in “Breathe,” and a pinch of slow rising beach-punk and hip shaking grooves in “Tom the Lion.”
Even when the band goes back in time with the sleek punk phrasing and vintage rock engravings of “Julie Grave” and “The Mongoose and the Snake,” with its ‘50s rockabilly punk and big band rock, which was synonymous with bands dressed in zoot suits back then, the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies keep the music alive with a modern skein liken to the Brian Setzer Orchestra. The big band jazz flash in the brass section through songs like “White Trash Toodle oo” and “Wingtips” feel like Frank Sinatra sings Green Day, but when the band relaxes into the laid back soft country rock vapors of “The Good Things,” it is as if they were overcome by old Glen Campbell records and reflect over days gone by in the past. Perry’s words for “The Good Things” are executed with a pensive look back, “I remember the way she looked when she left that night / All covered in roses / It must have been roses / Please let me remember / I wanna remember only the good things / Only the good things.”
There are only good things to say about the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies new album Susquehanna. Jazz and punk are often perceived as being completely diametrically opposing styles, but when they are brought together the way that the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies do it, they go together like cherries and chocolate fudge. One complements the other and they taste better together than apart. So too do the textural shavings that the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies use for Susquehanna.
The Cat Empire, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Pepper, Mad Caddies, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
www.myspace.com/cherrypoppindaddies (http://www.myspace.com/cherrypoppindaddies)