Rating: 6 Stars (Diamond) * * * * * *
Rating: 4 Stars (Silver) * * * *
Rating: 4 Stars (Silver) * * * *
Rating: 3 Stars (Blue) * * *
Rating: 4 Stars (Silver) * * * *
Rating: 5 Stars (Gold) * * * * *
I got into the Cherry Poppin Daddies probably a little over a year ago when I remembered an old video of Zoot Suit Riot that I saw when I was younger. I bought both it and the song Brown Derby Jump off the compilation album. Eventually I bought and listened to each of their albums over the past couple months and just recently bought and listened to their newest one, White Teeth Black Thoughts.
To start, their debut album Ferociously Stoned is my favorite of theirs and one of my favorite albums of all time at the moment. The chaotic swingrock mixed with jazz found in Drunk Daddy, Master and Slave, and Dr Bones is addictive as is the psychadelic in Answering Machine, Suicide Kings, and Diabolic Tastemaker. Shake Your Lovemaker is also irresistibly catchy.
Their next album Rapid City Muscle Car is an interesting concept, with virtually every song being of a different genre than the one before it, though the overall theme is still mostly swing. It has some awesome tracks, my favorites being The Search, Chrysalis, Ding Dong Daddy, Mister White Keys, Pink Elephant, and Johanna of the Spirits. However overall it doesn't feel quite as solid as Ferociously Stoned.
The next record, Kids on the Street, is kind of the oddball of the entire Cherry Poppin Daddies records. The only remotely swing or jazz sounding track that sounds like what dominated the first two records is Here Comes the Snake. The rest is much more straightforward punk rock or almost grungy. Nice overall, my faves are Cosa Nostra, Modsquadrophrenia, and Don Quixote. I like what they were going for with this one, even though it stands out like a sore thumb next to the others.
Soul Caddy is the album that I can't really get into as a whole. The album was their first to follow the fame they achieved with Zoot Suit Riot. I like Swingin' With Tiger Woods and My Mistake, and the album has more of the Cherry Poppin Daddies feel than the previous album, but it just didn't grow on me even after several listens. Not a bad album definitely, but it shines dimmer than the others.
Susquehanna marked a return from hiatus after the Daddies seem to have almost intentionally fled from the fame that was starting to find them from Zoot Suit Riot. The album has some swing and rock that the Daddies were known for, but theres a running flavor of spanish music and ska in the album. Favs are The Mongoose and the Snake, Blood Orange Sun, White Trash Toodle-Oo, and Wingtips. Theres a clever stunt on the album where the first track Bust Out, and the final track Arrancate are in fact the same song, with Bust Out being in English and Arrancate being in Spanish.
Finally their newest album is White Teeth Black Thoughts. I was very excited for this album because it was a return to swing and jazz which they hadn't focused on in awhile. I admit the album is still in the process of growing on me since I haven't listened to it nearly as much as the other albums yet so I may be a bit hasty in giving it 5 stars, but I can tell that it is a very well made album and I'm sure it will be a favorite. The Babooch, I Love American Music, Whiskey Jack, and Concrete Man Blues are extremely catchy and already among my favorites of the Daddies, and the rest sound solid from my listens thus far.
Thus concludes my review of the body of work from the Cherry Poppin Daddies. Hope to hear more from them in the future, and I'd love to be able to catch one of their live shows!
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