The Hot Sardines are part of a trad revival spearheaded by the likes of ironic ragtimers YouTube-istas Postmodern Jukebox that dovetails neatly with the more mainstream fashion-conscious penchant for all things vintage.

Fun and throwaway are the operative words delivered with well-schooled musicianship, and an eclectic liking for really old jazz, magpie-picking and putting together a whole lot of stuff just as long as it sounds sufficiently vintage. Their pretty decent self-titled album for Decca was released last year and they’re back after big crowds turned out for London dates back in the autumn with a Barbican, London show (14 May), and more Maytime English regional touring visiting Turner Sims, Southampton (15), Bath festival (16), RNCM, Manchester (17), Sage, Gateshead (18), and Norfolk and Norwich festival (19). Led by former actor pianist Evan ‘Bibs’ Palazzo featuring the strong flexible vocals of Miz Elizabeth – think a more full-voiced and slightly deeper-sounding Madeleine Peyroux-like approach – this hot jazz band relies on the sounds of the Prohibition-Great Depression years for its inspiration. Material includes Sidney Bechet’s ‘Petite Fleur’ sung in French a big highlight and a pacey version of ‘What a Little Moonlight Can Do.’ There’s a novelty element in opening ‘Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen’ (a live version of which is above), but that’s reined in on the more Chicago-style ‘Goin’ Crazy with the Blues’ and shuffled around a bit on the nostalgic ‘Wake up in Paris’. A strong Francophile flavour prevails on the cutesy ‘Zazou (Sweet Sue)’ with a gypsy jazz swing motion and surprisingly subtle interpretation by Miz Elizabeth of Dorothy Fields’ and Jimmy McHugh’s ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.’ Stephen Graham