Squirrel Nut Zippers

Squirrel Nut Zippers reached the major-label ranks precisely as the 1990s swing revival attained its height. Although their sound drew from sources well beyond the Rat Pack—New Orleans jazz, hot dance music, Harlem jazz, and other lively prewar American idioms—they still profited from the overlapping lounge revival, which carried their 1996 album Hot and its single “Hell” onto the Billboard charts. The band maintained an active touring schedule into the early 2000s before entering hiatus. Jimbo Mathus reassembled the group in 2008 for a concert recording, yet fresh studio material did not appear until Beasts of Burgundy in 2018. The refreshed lineup continued into the following decade with 2020’s Lost Songs of Doc Souchon.

Jimbo Mathus, who sang and played guitar and trombone, and Katharine Whalen, who sang and played banjo, founded Squirrel Nut Zippers in 1993 in the Chapel Hill region of North Carolina. After relocating to the nearby town of Efland and restoring a farmhouse where they practiced various crafts, the pair encountered local musicians Don Raleigh on bass and Ken Mosher on guitar, saxophone, and vocals who shared their enthusiasm for hot jazz. Chris Phillips on drums and percussion, Tom Maxwell on vocals, guitar, baritone saxophone, and clarinet, and Je Widenhouse on trumpet soon completed the roster, which took its name from a vintage candy bar. The ensemble made its first appearance in Chapel Hill and quickly attracted a sizable regional audience throughout the South.

By the close of 1994 the group had secured a contract with Mammoth Records, issuing its debut album The Inevitable in spring 1995. Roadwork generated modest attention, but the June 1996 release Hot supplied the decisive breakthrough. Early the following year “Hell” began receiving airplay on influential stations such as Los Angeles’ KROQ, after which MTV placed the video on heavy rotation as a buzz clip. By spring both the single and album registered on modern-rock playlists; Hot rose to number 27 on the Billboard charts and attained gold status in May, later reaching platinum certification by year’s end following the summer single “Put a Lid on It.” The Sold Out EP also appeared in 1997.

Perennial Favorites, the studio successor to Hot, arrived in August 1998, climbed to number 18 on the Billboard Top 200, and earned gold certification the next month, while Christmas Caravan followed in October. Bedlam Ballroom, released in 2000, advanced no higher than 195 on the Billboard Top 200, after which Squirrel Nut Zippers began an extended break. Mathus and Whalen ended their marriage and each pursued solo work; Chris Phillips performed with the Dickies and formed the Lamps. In 2007 the original members Mathus, Whalen, Phillips, and Je Widenhouse joined Stuart Cole and Will Dawson for a tour that continued into 2008, documented on the 2009 album Lost at Sea, recorded at a December 2008 Brooklyn performance.

A further hiatus lasted until 2016, when Mathus assembled a new lineup to mark the twentieth anniversary of Hot; he was the sole original member, though Phillips served as manager. Pleased with the musicians, Mathus and Phillips entered the studio, resulting in Beasts of Burgundy, issued in March 2018. The band sustained its resurgence with 2020’s Lost Songs of Doc Souchon, a set of new originals and revived material honoring New Orleans jazz preservationist Edmond “Doc” Souchon; former member and frequent ’90s collaborator Andrew Bird contributed a guest appearance. Mathus and Bird subsequently recorded the 2021 duo album These 13.