Label: Rock Ridge MusicRating: 3.5 Guns
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Written By: Darwin Green
Imagine getting drunk during the day, either at a friend’s BBQ, or at the beach drinking a cold beer. You’re happy, young, and have no worries. It would be the perfect setting for this album. If Jimmy Buffet and Elvis Costello got home from a jazz concert and started binge drinking somewhere in Spain, meeting up with Rancid or Sublime at the “swingin'-est” beach party ever, that’s what listening to this album might evoke. While the flamenco openers are super cheesy, I don’t think Cherry Poppin’ Daddies are strangers to cheese, and it sort of makes sense as long as you’re not listening too closely.
Spain or (insert any Latin country here) plays a large part on the album, with the blaring horns and the acoustic guitar playing flamenco riffs, and I imagine that the impetus for this album came from a series of Tequila fueled nights filtered by the band’s sensibility for jazz and swing.
Strangely enough, there are songs on the album that remind one of a 1940s speakeasy. They’re shuffled between the Latin-drenched songs and punchy ska songs, presumably to keep fans of their older, big band style interested and able to listen all the way through the mix of different styles. After listening to more than three or four songs I had to check whether ITunes was on shuffle mode or not. Even within songs I had to check whether the track changed while I wasn’t paying attention. Some songs suffer for this and some get better.
This album is best listened to purely for physical motivation. If you need to clean your room or want something to play volleyball to, put this album on. Or if you’re on Zoloft and need something to give your mood a boost, put this on. But put it on in the background. A little bit of this album goes a long way, and you don’t want to overdo it.
Like Cherry Poppin’ Daddies? Then you might like Elvis Costello, Sublime, Harry Connick Jr.
