The world needs another Daddy (as in Big Bad Voodoo and Cherry Poppin') like Bill Clinton needs another Jane Doe. But Big Rude Jake is no royal crown regurgitation. Hailing from the Great White North, Jake began swingin' long before it became a retro fad. Ignored in Canada for eight years and two independent albums, Jake immigrated to New York two years ago in search of a dotted line. There, his money and his band ran out on him, but Jake held true to his two-tone intentions -- and his big rude mouth.

Today, the artless artist is nesting atop Big Rude Jake, an eleven-song collection of catchy swing anthems like "Buster Boy" and "Speak Easy." Dwarfing his musical prowess, however, are his caustic opinions on other swing bands, homosexuality and Marilyn Manson.

Swing music gets a bad rap from music critics who call it a recycled trend, a flash in the pan. How do you see modern swing and where do you think it's headed?

If swing continues on the same path, it will face a quick death. Brian Setzer, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Cherry Poppin' Daddies have done a lot to get swing off the ground, but once you listen to one of their albums, you've heard them all. Jim Morrison really was a troubled soul with a drug problem who was living on the edge, so when he wrote troubling songs, they were sincere. When some swing guy in L.A. writes about being a mobster or about a zoot suit riot, it doesn't sound real. That's why swing is hard to take seriously. However, there are a lot of bands, like mine, that constitute the second wave of swing, who are out there to change that misconception that swing has nowhere to grow.

Do you give any kudos to Brian Setzer for bringing more artistic integrity to swing?

I definitely do. I was doing this music ten years ago, and no one gave asecond look. Thank God someone like Setzer came along with his credibilityfrom his rockabilly days and he put it back on the map. He certainly helpedus get a deal, I'm sure of it. I don't doubt that for a second.

In "Dinner With the Devil," you make a distinction between "nice" and "right." That seems to be a running theme for you musically and personally.

Canadians are very proud of the fact that they are a polite people, and they see it as an indication of virtue. But we forget that not every socially acceptable activity is necessarily moral. That is the dilemma that Huck Finn faces. He wrestles in his mind over the fact that he will go to hell if he continues to befriend and help Jim make an escape. In the end, Huck decides to do the antisocial thing, but he never realizes that he is doing the right thing.

Another interesting new song is "Queer for Cat," which is a not-so-veiled reference to lesbian sex.

Basically, it's about a guy who is amused that his girlfriend's latest fancy strikes his fancy, too. The only veil in that song is the one that covers up the humor, which says that I am somewhat suspicious of sexual fashion. When I was growing up in the Eighties, a lot of guys were convinced they were gay, but after a couple of years they decided they weren't. I think the same thing is happening with the gals nowadays, and there is a certain trendiness about it. I am a little cynical.

"Let's Kill All the Rock Stars" straddles politics and pop culture. How much of that song is tongue-in-cheek and how much of it is sincere?

If you got me to be honest, my beef about the music industry is not about the rock stars. The problem is the hype machine, which is propped up by a whole lot of people. But I felt like victimizing some rock stars because they have been getting off a little easy. For example, I find Marilyn Manson and his rubbish totally unacceptable. Standing up there talking about Satan basically offends a bunch of little old ladies from Iowa -- it's not a bona fide rebellion in any sense. It's bullshit. He's part of a corporate machine. He complains about suburbia and Middle America -- big deal. Where does he stand on the legalization of marijuana and the rights of homosexuals? Any day Marilyn Manson wants to get his head kicked in, that fucker, I'm here.

ANNI LAYNE
(March 1, 1999)