Susquehanna is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, first released independently on the groups's own label Space Age Bachelor Pad Records in 2008 then re-issued and given national distribution in 2009 by Rock Ridge Music.

Susquehanna marked the Daddies return to recording after a nearly decade-long break, following their two-year hiatus after 2000's Soul Caddy and sporadic performing throughout 2002 - 2006. The album follows in the multi-genre concept album tradition of the band's previous albums, boasting a strong Latin-influenced sound in addition to the band's usual offering of rock, swing and ska.

Overview

Susquehanna is predominantly influenced by Latin and Caribbean music, experimenting with flamenco ("Roseanne"), soca ("Tom the Lion"), bossa nova ("Breathe") and reggae ("Blood Orange Sun"), but also visiting familiar Daddies territory with swing ("Wingtips", "White Trash Toodle-oo"), rockabilly ("The Mongoose and the Snake"), ska ("Hammerblow") and glam rock ("Julie Grave"). "Bust Out" (and its Spanish language translation "Arráncate"), is a Latin rock number peppered with spaghetti western guitar riffs and mariachi-styled trumpets. Also included is a re-recording of "Hi and Lo", a ska punk song that was originally written by Steve Perry for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones to record, but eventually ended up on Vacationing in Palm Springs, a 1997 split 7" between the Daddies and then-labelmates Reel Big Fish.^[1]

Perry explained that the album's tropical slant was due to his prediction that one day "American pop will owe a huge debt to world sensibilities", and that "these I wanted to explore and potentially boil down to some fundamental building blocks that might lead toward a new, more international style".^[2] Stylistically, Perry said he based the structure of Susquehanna on James Joyce's Ulysses, in that each of the songs were written in a distinctly different style and genre but the album as a whole was thematically coherent.^[2][3] Perry explained in an interview with Songfacts that the album was also inspired by Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 film Pierrot le fou in that regard, in that "songs are a means to an end. Genres reflect off each other." ^[4]

It's like a little movie, doing what I always do with genres, which is to use them kind of like paint. I use various genres and grind them against each other. I like to put a flamenco song next to a song that's a glam rock song next to a song that's a swing song, so that the flavor changes.^[5]

Like the Daddies' previous albums, Susquehanna is crafted as a concept album. Each song deals with memories, all written in the format of a progressive narrative following a character in the aftermath of a broken relationship. Perry describes the album as "about losses and continuing on. Its about love, doubt and fatigue...and ultimately about gratitude".^[6]

Production history

News of a new Daddies studio album first surfaced in mid-2006 during a radio interview with Steve Perry. He stated that the new album was in the process of being written, and would cover some new territory for the Daddies, drawing on Latin, tropical and reggae sounds, though it would contain a few swing tracks as well.^[7] Most of this new material was debuted during the band's 2006 US tour. On February 9, 2007, the band released demos of three new songs available for purchase: the reggae-tinged "Blood Orange Sun", the Latin-inspired "Bust Out", and the flamenco ballad "Roseanne".

According to a blog on the band's official MySpace page, recording began on the 25th of June. By September 5, the record was finally tracked but not fully mixed, and given the title Susquehanna, after the river near where Perry grew up (up until then, the album went under a number of working titles, including Truth & Consequences and The Good Things). Perry confirmed that there were 12 tracks on the album, and that they were "...all part of the same story..... does that make it a rock opera, concept album or just a bunch of stuff that happened?"^[8]

Susquehanna was released for digital download through the Daddies' official website on February 19, 2008, before being made available on CD on June 10, 2008. Both versions were available for purchase only through the band's website and live shows until September 29, 2009, when the album was given a national release (along with their 2009 ska compilation Skaboy JFK) following their signing to Rock Ridge Music.

Response

Reviews of Susquehanna were mostly mixed; though no major media publications provided reviews due to its low-profile release, various internet reviewers either praised the band for their musical experimentation or criticized it as inconsistent. AbsolutePunk.net gave the album an 86% rating, stating "there are only good things to say about the Cherry Poppin' Daddies new album", calling it "full of fun and surprisingly entertaining".^[9] The Celebrity Cafe gave it a rating of 8.5, summarizing the CD as "for someone who is looking for something different ... it's fresh and it's different and it's about time".^[10] Metro Spirit delivered most of the praise on Perry's "secret weapon" voice, adding "being backed by a blistering horn section and hotshit guitar player certainly doesn’t hurt either",^[11] and Blogcritics also gave the album a positive review, describing it as "pleasurable listening"^[12], and in a later re-reviewing, praised the album's narrative concept and lyrical interconnectedness as an "amazing undertaking".^[13]

On the other side of the critical spectrum, Allmusic gave Susquehanna a rating of 3.5/5, writing that it lacked "oomph or punch" and the band ultimately "leave[s] the listener with little pop". Reax Music Magazine said that the only tunes that succeeded were the ones that stuck to the band's original swing formula,^[14] while PopMatters called Perry's songwriting attempts at being multi-genre "jumbled", "smug" and "flat-out overstuffed"; however, it praised "Hi and Lo" as "absolutely extraordinary".^[15] In a 2009 re-review, however, the album was given a score of 8/10, citing the blend of genres as "the truest overall representation of the band" and the Daddies' "best work so far".^[16]

Track listing

All songs composed by Steve Perry.

1. "Bust Out" – 4:08
2. "The Mongoose and the Snake" – 3:20
3. "Hi and Lo" – 3:39
4. "Blood Orange Sun" – 3:20
5. "White Trash Toodle oo" – 2:39
6. "Julie Grave" – 3:24
7. "Roseanne" – 3:10
8. "Hammerblow" – 3:00
9. "Tom the Lion" – 4:08
10. "Wingtips" – 4:10
11. "Breathe" – 4:00
12. "The Good Things" – 3:40
13. "Arráncate" – 4:07

• "Arráncate" is a Spanish-language version of "Bust Out".

Previous availability

• An earlier version of "Hi and Lo" - with an extended intro - was available on Vacationing in Palm Springs, a split 7" with Reel Big Fish.

Credits

Cherry Poppin' Daddies

• Steve Perry - vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Dana Heitman - trumpet
• Dan Schmid - bass
• Jason Moss - guitar
• Sean Flannery - tenor and bari saxophones
• Dustin Lanker - keyboards, vocals
• Tim Donahue - drums
• Joe Manis - alto and bari saxophones

Additional musicians

• Billy Barnett - guitar, bass
• Jaime Woods - acoustic guitar
• Rose Woods - castanets, wood floor flamenco
• Ishi Woods - cajón, percussion
• Ricardo Cardenas - guitar
• Tim Clark - trumpet
• Glenn Bonny - trombone
• Glenn Griffith - trombone
• Lydia Van Dreel - french horn
• Dale Bradley - cello
• Kristin Halay - flute

Production

• Produced by Steve Perry
• Mastered by Brad Blackwood at Euphonic Mastering, Memphis, Tennessee
• Recorded and mixed by Billy Barnett at Gung Ho Studios in Eugene, Oregon
• Album design by Tony Figolil and Mark Dixon
• Photography by Tonee Harbert

References