About
Chapel Hill, North Carolina gave us plenty of alternative rock acts in the 90s, but nobody quite like Squirrel Nut Zippers. Founded in 1993 by guitarist and vocalist Jimbo Mathus and Katherine Whalen, who brought her jazzy, vintage-tinged vocals to the mix, the band carved out a wildly distinctive niche by reaching back to hot jazz, swing, and 1930s Tin Pan Alley sounds at a moment when grunge and Britpop dominated the conversation. They were oddballs in the best possible sense.
Their 1996 album Hot became an unexpected smash, going platinum and spawning the infectiously morbid single Hell, which got heavy rotation on MTV and introduced a generation of flannel-wearing rock fans to Django Reinhardt-style guitar licks and New Orleans-flavored arrangements. The record arrived right as the swing revival was bubbling up, and the Zippers were arguably the act with the most genuine musical credibility in that scene, drawing from real roots rather than novelty.
The band's cultural footprint was genuinely interesting. They helped kickstart mainstream interest in vintage Americana and jazz before acts like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy made it a full-blown fad. After splitting in 2000, Mathus revived the project intermittently, keeping the flame alive for fans who discovered them the first time around and new listeners hungry for something with actual historical depth behind it.
