Every Tuesday, new releases are finally available to be purchased and the first week sales mean the world to the record labels. It is always an exciting day to finally get that new album by your favorite band. The hype and buildup of the new album has been going on for months. Tuesday can’t come soon enough. Thanks to Compact Disc Center in Bethlehem, PA, you and I can purchase that new album on Saturday and brag to everyone that you have the new album already. I guess you can just get the album online when it leaks, but what is the fun in that?
Rattle Them Bones by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy doesn’t come out until this Tuesday, September 4. I was able to get a copy of the album on vinyl, and I must say this album just might be my second favorite release of 2012. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has moved away from the swing sound that made them popular on their self-titled release back in 1994. This album is the more geared towards the 1940’s big band sound mixed with jazz. The sound of this album combines two of my favorite albums by them, Save My Soul and How Big Can You Get?: The Music Of Cab Calloway.
Rattle Them Bones opens with a quick introduction called “The Adventures Of……”. Imagine going to a movie theatre in the 1940’s, right before the movie starts there is introduction of the movie or theatre. With the crackling sound and loud brass section, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy replicates it well.
“Diga Diga Do” picks up where Save My Soul left off, but immediately turns into a fast paced swing song even Cab Calloway would be proud of. “The Jitters” follows the same suit as being a fast paced instrumental song that will get anyone up and dancing. I can imagine this song being played at a USO show in the 1940’s where the zoot suits come in and take over the dance floor.
“Let It Roll Again” has been a song Big Bad Voodoo Daddy have been playing live lately and is a perfect song to show off the rest of band’s gang vocals. The following song is my new favorite song by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and it is a duet with Meaghan Smith. I didn’t know who this talented singer was, but after researching, she seems to be Canada’s version of Zooey Deschanel. This song is a beautiful love song that could’ve been heard in a musical. I suggest buying this album just for this song. It is just that good.
“It only took a kiss,
To know this,
Baby I’m in love with you,
One look,
Is all it took,
To say I do,
And baby when you smile,
I’d walk a mile,
Oh just to be with you.”
The last song on Side A is “Why Me”. Again, in vain of the New Orleans jazz sound Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has recently adopted, this song is infectiously catchy. It will leave you singing, “Why-why-why-why-why me, why-why-why-me?”
Side B continues the New Orleans jazz sound with “Devil’s Dance” and “It’s Lonely At The Top”. The latter, being a slower tempo song about having it all, but still being lonely when you have reached the top. “Still In The Mood” is another song that could’ve been played back in the 1940’s with a full orchestra and a grand piano at a romantic setting somewhere in a California restaurant. Scotty Morris can write some of the most beautiful love songs.
“The birds are singing,
The band is swinging,
Happy days are here again.”
The final song is “5-10-15 Times”. I remember hearing this about a year ago when I saw Big Bad Voodoo Daddy live. It blew me away. It shows off each member’s talent. The piano and bass solo is just enough to make you wish that the radio had more songs being played where people are actually playing instruments.
I highly suggest picking this album up on Tuesday for it really is a phenomenal album. This is Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s best album in my opinion. The vinyl didn’t have anything special unfortunately. No digital download, but rumor has it that Amazon might be selling it digital on Tuesday at $5 as a deluxe edition with bonus songs. Don’t quote me on that, we are just going to have to see for ourselves.
Favorite Sights & Sounds 