Swing's all around us now. Or at least it was a few minutes ago. The Cherry Poppin' Daddies, riding the tide of the swing rage with a single, "Zoot Suit Riot," and strong-selling album of the same name, were supposed to play the Bronco Bowl on Friday, but because of less-than-stellar ticket sales, the show was moved to the smaller Deep Ellum Live.

Which, turns out, was kinda cool: The club's centerpiece is a scruffy plank of hardwood floor--swing dancers' tromping turf of choice. Deep Ellum Live's more intimate atmosphere also amplified the bond between artist and audience.

Too bad the audience--an eclectic bunch made up of kids and adults showing off the moves they learned in swing-dance class, more accomplished zoot- suiters and a throng of onlookers--was more interesting. The Daddies simply do not have a whole lot to offer.

The Oregon-based band prides itself on its unique brand of swing, a big-band inspired sound that often explodes into ska and punk noise. It was these moments on Friday night--when the band took an off-ramp into its unusual metallic furies--that should have offrered colorful ambushes. Rather, songs like 'Teenage Brainsurgeon' came off as botched attempts to prove the Daddies were capable of more than redundant Sinatra fare.

Whether the guys agree or not, swing is this band's specialty, although what they do isn't all that special. Enigmatic singer Steve Perry looked to be giving it his all, smiling, dancing and shaking his mike around like a priest dousing a house in holy water, and the seven-piece band sufficiently laid down a wall of smooth grooves. In the end, though, it was one-dimensional and unsatisfying, proof that the band's popularity will last only as long as the fad. See you guys back at the Aardvark.