Roasted Right

Roasted Right

ROASTED RIGHT contains two songs from an early Squirrel Nut Zippers 7 inch single plus two bonus cuts.In a mid-'90s indie scene that seemed stuck in an increasingly by-the-numbers rut, this septet from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, led by guitarist/singer Jim Mathus (who had previously been in the considerably more indiepop-oriented Metal Flake Mother), banjoist Katherine Whalen, and guitarist Tom Maxwell, was both a complete shock and a hot topic of debate. Whether listeners loved the Squirrel Nut Zippers' indescribable mix of '20s hot jazz, vaudeville novelties, calypsos, and New Orleans-style second-line music, or considered the group arch non-rock stylistic fetishists, it was impossible not to pay attention, especially after the second single from 1996's HOT, "Hell," became a surprising mainstream success. Released shortly after that commercial breakthrough, the four-song EP ROASTED RIGHT contains four otherwise unavailable songs, "Little Mother-in-Law," "(You Are My) Radio," "Wash Jones" and a cover of the standard "Anything But Love."