Neo-Neo-Swing: Squirrel Nut Zippers, 'Lost at Sea'

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IT MIGHT HAVE been nine years since the band's last album, but it's never too late to dig the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Reel Big Fish and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones may have worn out their welcome during the '90s with all but the most hardcore ska fans (although the latter group is still going strong), but swing, when it's done right, is timeless.

As for the Squirrel Nut Zippers, the down-home big-band punk-rock band — reportedly named NOT after the candy, but for some other weird-ass reason — took an extended break after 2000's "Bedlam Ballroom," but its new live album, "Lost at Sea" (Southern Broadcasting/MRI) is also jumping-off point for some long-awaited new material.

SNZ, as Southern folks, bring a vicious snarl to their brand of neo-swing, sexing up their tunes with crass bawdiness and whittling down melodies to their sharpest edges. They also excel at finding rhymes in unlikely places ("These cats is broke, I knows 'em / Throw 'em out the doors and close 'em!") and merging oddball sounds from klezmer to '30s jazz. Katharine Whalen's old-timey vocals (at their best here on "It Ain't You" ) take some getting used to, but they fit in perfectly with frontman Jim "Jimbo" Mathus' own half-crazed intonations.

"Lost at Sea," like many worthy live albums, functions as both a best-of compilation and a glimpse at the band's onstage presence and energy. And since SNZ already has a best-of album, the live performance is a refreshing take on the old hits.

Almost half the show, recorded in 2008 at the Southpaw in Brooklyn, is made up of songs from the platinum album "Hot," and it's all right ones: "Hell," "Put a Lid on It" and the rousing opener "Memphis Exorcism" are all in their element onstage — especially "Hell." As great as the album version is, there's something particularly awesome about improvising horns, shakers and spontaneous vocal variation.

Other highlights are the spot-on solos in "Bad Businessman" and the unexpected laid-back tempo of "Suits Are Picking Up the Bill."

The recording drags, as most live albums do, during several minutes of applause and some jam sessions that go nowhere, but "Lost at Sea" is essential for the Squirrel Nut Zippers fanatic, perfect for the newcomer and still a hell of a good time for everyone else.

Written by Express contributor Afton Lorraine Woodward
Photo by Joshua Weinfeld