The Cherry Poppin' Daddies

To be honest, the band name may be enough in itself to lure you in - I know it was for me.

The Cherry Poppin' Daddies are a versatile bunch; I think it would be fair to say that they mainly stick to the ska genre, but that isn't really my bag. If it is yours however, then by all means check out their recent compilation, Skaboy JFK. Even for someone not that keen on ska, there are some very good songs on there - Hi and Lo is pretty catchy.
 
The Daddies have a useful habit of combining all of their songs which are of a similar style on compilations. The one which I listen to a ridiculous amount is Zoot Suit Riot, which contains most of their swing inspired tunes. And it is fantastic: Steve Perry's swarthy, jaunty voice, combined with high octane drums and about as much brass as you could possibly handle, make for maybe the most fun album I've reviewed here.

This album is musically accomplished but makes it look oh so easy, combining a classic style of crooning with some casual cursing, adult content and often comical lyrics. They just have it all!

Their more recent album, Susquehanna is also excellent, often channeling a more 'flamenco' vibe with a lot of Spanish guitar and frantic beats. Roseanne is a long-standing favourite of mine, filled with passion and emotion and beautiful lyrics, showing yet another string to this group's (if anything, too stringy) bow. The Mongoose and the Snake is another brilliant track on that album, but I can't just sit here listing all of the brilliant songs the Cherry Poppin' Daddies have penned - that would make for a very long and boring article and a tired Spodle.

... well, just one more: the first song I actually heard by CPD was Irish Whiskey which appears on two of their albums, which has much more of a classic rock feel to it, though with some ska elements (depending on which version you listen to - I prefer the Soul Caddy one) and the dizzying momentum and string accompaniment associated with the American Irish tradition of Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys. If you like those bands, I imagine you would like the Cherry Poppin' Daddies - it would be difficult not to find something you like amongst their plethora of different albums and styles.

Everfree (mini post)

So I read Everfree, the third episode in Nick Sagan's dystopian series which began with Idlewild.

My overall thoughts were that it was a little disappointing. I'm not sure if it's because I was younger when I read the first two or because the author had a lot of plot to fit into a single novel (the entire reconstruction of humanity no less), but it seemed a little two-dimensional. The amount of things that happened left little space for character development - arguably not as necessary since they have all been introduced previously, but still extremely important I feel. This also resulted in the action feeling a bit rushed and lacking in impact.

On the plus side, the book does wrap up the story pretty well. It wasn't a struggle to get through and my prior attachment to the characters and knowledge of their history carried me through, making me care about their fates. It isn't a terrible book, nor is it a great one. I was as whelmed as whelmed can be.

This is just a short post as I don't like to slate things - the point of this blog is to big up little known but accomplished artists, but I hinted that I would report back on this novel so I thought I would follow through - this also serves to prove that I can be discerning (I don't just love everything!), so it might lend my taste some integrity.

Stay tuned for a proper post soon :)