*** Squirrel Nut Zippers

BEDLAM BALLROOM

(Mammoth)

An underground interest in swing music had been brewing in the US since the late '80s, but it was the Squirrel Nut Zippers' 1997 Hot and its insanely catchy single "Hell" that brought mainstream attention to the craze. While critics squabble over the band's direction -- some say they're paying tribute to the past, some say they're debasing it -- the Zippers continue to turn out solid albums full of low-key gems.

Bedlam Ballroom doesn't make any grand artistic statements, but it's full of tunes that balance sophisticated humor ("Just This Side of Blue" rhymes "shackin' up" with "crackin' up") and solid musicianship. "Bedbugs" opens the disc with a bit of '30s-style calypso, a vaguely salacious nursery rhyme set to a lilting beat, then slips into the jumpin' jive of "Baby Wants a Diamond Ring," a showcase for Katherine Whalen's Billie Holiday-influenced purr and also for new pianist Reese Gray, who contributes a short, sharp stride-influenced solo. "Bent Out of Shape," the album's best ballad, is a melancholy saloon song that would have been perfect for Chris Connor or Sinatra; the title instrumental track, penned by the band's late trumpeter, Stacy Guess, is packed with a cartoon Dixieland energy that brings to mind Raymond Scott and Cab Calloway.

(Squirrel Nut Zippers perform next Friday, October 27, at the Roxy. Call 931-2000.)

-- J. Poet