01	God My Own Thing Now						02:29
	02	Put A Lid On It						02:37
	03	Memphis Exorcism						02:23
	04	Twilight						03:32
	05	It Aint You						03:06
	06	Prince Nez						02:52
	07	Hell						03:12
	08	Meant To Be						03:10
	09	Bad Bussinesman						03:47
	10	Flight Of The Passing Fancy						03:51
	11	Blue Angel						04:33
	12	The Interlocutor						02:45
	13	Lover's Lane						03:03
	14	Danny Diamond						03:49
	15	I've Found A New Baby						02:42
	16	Anything But Love						02:38
	17	Good Enough For Cranddad						02:16
	18	Wished For You						02:14
	19	La Grippe						03:10
	20	Lugubrious						02:31
	21	Club Limbo						02:56
	22	Wash Jones						03:04
	23	You're Driving' Me Crazy						02:46
	24	Plenty More						03:27

The Inevitable
Date of Release Mar 21, 1995

The members of the band mostly just call it jazz, or "hot music," or, when they're feeling naughty, "race music" - a term that dates back to the1920s and '30s, when major record labels released jump blues and hot jazz singles under special subsidiary imprints with names like Okeh and Sepiatone. It's music that doesn't really have a name anymore, yet everyone recognizes it and loves it. This wasn't the album that made the Squirrel Nut Zippers a household name (that honor goes to Hot, the follow-up), but it sure could have if given the chance. An instrumental with the pitch-perfect title of "Lugubrious Whing Whang," cover versions of "You're Drivin' Me Crazy" and "I've Found a New Baby," originals like "Lover's Lane" and the absolutely hair-raising "La Grippe" - these are not just labors of love by dewy-eyed nostalgists. The SNZs have taken this music and appropriated it entirely, without a trace of irony or condescension. The result is magnificent. - Rick Anderson

1. Lover's Lane (Mathus) - 3:03
2. Danny Diamond (Mosher) - 3:49
3. I've Found a New Baby (Palmer/Williams) - 2:42
4. Anything But Love (Raleigh/Squirrel Nut Zippers) - 2:38
5. Good Enough for Granddad (Mathus/Raleigh) - 2:17
6. Wished for You (Mathus) - 2:14
7. La Grippe (Mathus) - 3:10
8. Lugubrious Whing Whang (Mathus) - 2:38
9. Club Limbo (Ensslin/Maxwell) - 2:56
10. Wash Jones (Mathus) - 3:04
11. You're Drivin' Me Crazy (Donaldson) - 2:46
12. Plenty More (Ensslin/Maxwell) - 3:27

Tom Maxwell - Guitar, Percussion, Vocals
Brian Paulson - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
Chris Eselgroth - Graphic Design
Lane Wurster - Art Direction
Steve Balcom - Executive Producer
Jay Faires - Executive Producer
Ken Mosher - Guitar, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Vocals
Stacy Guess - Trumpet
John Kempannin - Violin
Alex Treml - Photography
James Mathus & His Knockdown Society - Guitar, Vocals
Don Raleigh - Bass
Katharine Whalen - Banjo, Vocals
Chris Phillips - Percussion, Drums

1995 LP Mammoth 105
1995 CD Mammoth 105
1999 Mammoth 980105
1996 CS Mammoth 105
1999 Mammoth 980105





Hot
Date of Release Jan 1997

Squirrel Nut Zippers' second album, Hot, was one of the most surprising success stories of 1997. Like the group's debut, The Inevitable, Hot is comprised entirely of good-natured, if slightly tongue-in-cheek, postmodern big-band music. The band has nailed the sound of jump blues and swinging jazz, and if they don't have the chops of real big bands, they do have enthusiasm and a sense of humor. Of course, for purists of the genre, that collegiate sense of humor might make Hot a little unbearable, especially those instances when Katharine Whalen sounds uncannily like Billie Holiday, only without the substance. For those willing to overlook such things, they'll find Hot to be a good time, filled with songs nearly as infectious as the group's breakthrough hit, "Hell." - Stephen Thomas Erlewine

1. Got My Own Thing Now (Mathus) - 2:30
2. Put a Lid on It (Maxwell) - 2:39
3. Memphis Exorcism (Mathus) - 2:24
4. Twilight (Maxwell) - 3:34
5. It Ain't You (Mathus) - 3:08
6. Prince Nez (Mathus) - 2:53
7. Hell (Maxwell) - 3:12
8. Meant to Be (Maxwell) - 3:11
9. Bad Businessman (Mathus/Mosher) - 3:48
10. Flight of the Passing Fancy (Mathus/Mosher) - 3:52
11. Blue Angel (Mathus/Mosher) - 4:35
12. The Interlocutor (Mosher) - 5:20

Tom Maxwell - Clarinet, Guitar, Sax (Baritone), Vocals, Photography, Resonator
Brian Paulson - Producer, Engineer
Clay Walker - Producer
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Mixing
Chris Eselgroth - Graphic Design
Mike Napolitano - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
Lane Wurster - Art Direction
Ken Mosher - Guitar, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Ukulele, Vocals
Duke Heitger - Cornet
James Mathus & His Knockdown Society - Guitar, Piano, Vocals, Tenor Banjo
Don Raleigh - Bass, Gong
Katharine Whalen - Banjo, Ukulele, Vocals
Andrew Bird - Violin
Roger Manley - Photography
Jean Christian Rostagni - Photography
Chris Phillips - Percussion, Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part, Photography, Trap Kit

1997 Mammoth 137
1996 LP Mammoth 137
1996 CD Mammoth 980137
1996 CS Mammoth 980137



Hell
Composed By Tom Maxwell
Performed By Squirrel Nut Zippers

AMG REVIEW: When the Squirrel Nut Zippers released their debut album in 1996, it was received with a combination of joy and confusion. Recorded on a single mic in a New Orleans studio and consisting primarily of music that sounded like it predated rock & roll by 30 years (and yet frequently rocked as hard as anything else on the market), Hot came out more or less simultaneously with a swing and jump blues revival in the U.S., which provided a convenient retro pigeonhole for the Zippers to get stuck into. (In a bizarre turn of events, when the swing craze subsided you could often find Zippers albums in the ska section, despite the fact that they've never recorded anything remotely like ska or reggae.) But they never were a swing band, and for an example of how various their influences really are you need look no further than "Hell," a brilliant and hilarious song written by Tom Maxwell in the style of old-school calypso masters like Lord Kitchener and Roaring Lion. Featuring unbelievably hot playing from the Zippers and couplets like "This is a place where eternally, fire is applied to the body/Teeth are extruded and bones are ground, and baked into cakes which are passed around," "Hell" manages to be both a parody and a tribute to an all-but-lost Carribean musical tradition of clever wordplay, eschatological admonition, and bouncy beats. In "Hell" you can also see foreshadowings of Maxwell's post- Zippers project, which focuses on gospel music. This is only one of many exquisite songs on the first Zippers album, but it definitely stands out. - Rick Anderson