Zipper Than Thou

pon the unceremonious death of grunge, no one could have guessed that the freshest sound on the airwaves would come straight out of New Orleans and Harlem—circa 1930. Enter the North Carolina jazz septet the Squirrel Nut Zippers. In 1997 their calypso-meetsDante hit, "Hell," launched the band's sophomore album, Hot, into the platinum empyrean—and the Zippers into packed clubs across America. While the Zippers' influences run from Cab Calloway to Fats Waller to Betty Boop, a couple of things about their sound are certain: it's hot and it's old. Singer-songwriter-guitarist Jim Mathus, who grew up in Mississippi, was raised to appreciate the folk and country music of the 1930s and 40s. After he made a few trips to New Orleans at the age of 18, the transition to jazz was not difficult. "The musical genres of the 30s, 40s, and 50s were incestuous," says Mathus. "If you can play a traditional folk song like 'Sitting on Top of the World,' you can play jazz." Following a move to North Carolina, Mathus met his future wife, Katharine

Whalen, and they discovered their common affinity for the sounds of a bygone era. In 1994, Mathus and Whalen (who sings and plays banjo) decided to take a chance and bring it all back. With the addition of musical bottle rocket Tom Maxwell and a talented orchestra, the Squirrel Nut Zippers were born. The Zippers' fascination with nostalgia is thoroughly pervasive: from their fly collars and broad-striped suits to their quirky name, which comes from a brand of caramel-nut candy. Now, with their third album, Perennial Favorites, releasing this August, prepare to dust off your two-tones: as the Zippers proclaim on their debut album, The Inevitable, "If it's good enough for Granddad, it's good enough for me."

JOHN GILLIES