I remember when the resurgence of swing music was a big deal. Well, the limelight might have faded on it, but there is still plenty of great modern swing getting recorded. I hadn’t heard of these guys before, but they are among the best. This is an entertaining album and quite a consistent one. I like it a lot.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Hot Swing Is Back
This has such a great swing sound that it’s scary. There’s a bit of a party atmosphere. There is a modern edge to this, but it’s very much old time swing music. This doesn’t have the ferocity of an Atomic Fireballs, but it’s the same general kind of music. This is great stuff. The horn solo section is powerful and the mellower drop back afterward is classy, too.
The Big Stomper Another swing music anthem, this is fun, too. The call and response section is great. So is the horn solo. This is energetic and just infectious. The horn duel is well worth noting, too.
The Ghost of Johnny Walker There is definitely a Dixieland kind of vibe to this thing. If possible, I think I like this better than the two previous tunes. Everything is just perfect here. The guitar soloing section is cool.
These Times Are Tough (But Baby so Are We) Here we get a slow moving number. It is good, but not as strong as the previous pieces as far as I’m concerned. The faster section later has a lot more energy, but it’s still not as strong as the earlier music on the disc.
I'm Not Crying for You With female vocals, this is a powerful tune, plain and simple. The lyrics talk about a woman dealing with a cheater. She’s not sitting around crying, though. She pulls no punches here. This is one of my favorite cuts of the whole disc.
Dine on Danger The title track finds us back in the familiar groove. This is another screamer. It’s definitely another highlight of the disc. It’s just the kind of thing that makes it impossible to resist its charms.
Give Me Love The jazz is still all over this, but it’s more of a 1960s or early 70s pop song. This is fun and a great change of pace.
I Never Thought You Would Make It This is another with some Dixieland in the arrangement. It’s a fun romp and has a cool guitar solo.
You Are the Kind of Girl The first forty seconds are so of this are acapella. Some guitar joins from there and the cut continues with just that accompaniment. A horn rises up after a time. Then around the minute and a half mark it gets more of a full arrangement.
Nobody Loves Me Like You Do Ragtime and Dixieland seem to combine on this bouncy piece. It’s another fun one. Some of the lyrical references make it clear this song was written in the twenty first century, but the music would never tell anyone that.