First things first - apparently, Zuton is a planet. The unit of currency on Zuton is the Zut. One Zut equals 100 Ziddies. That's according to a Maths lesson you might find if you search for this band online. God bless the Internet. Wherever The Zutons dug up their moniker, it's by far the best band name to crop up in ages. And it has to be said - Who Killed the Zutons? ranks pretty highly on the all-time riskiest debut album titles chart. The Zutons tempting fate, perhaps? Well no, not really. This is an ambitious but fully accomplished debut that promises good times are ahead for the Liverpool five-piece.
The record kicks off with "Zuton Fever", a live favourite and sure-fire attention grabber. Built around a riff that's as intoxicating and addictive as vodka jelly, its scatty saxophone stabs and zombie bassline serve as a personal invite to planet Zuton. Yet it's rather difficult to describe the musical melange one finds there. Frontman and songwriter David McCabe classes the band's sound as a 'soul-funk-voodoo vibe' (see "Dirty Dancehall" and "Zuton Fever"), but touches of ska and country are also discernable. Regardless, it's certainly a refreshing and inventive approach that makes previous comparisons with labelmates The Coral seem both unfounded and unflattering.
Breakthrough single "Pressure Point" does remarkably well to blend irresistible disco rhythm (including requisite cowbell and handclaps) with modern-day edgy guitars. "You Will You Won't" is an equally impressive follow up that sees the band stomping along with a cocksure Merseyside swagger. Literally: drummer Sean Payne is aided in the song's middle eight by the boom of communally stamping feet.
While the album's highlights are undoubtedly its funkier (and indeed, punkier) moments, it also has its fair share of soulful, downbeat tracks. But where "Confusion" and "Not a Lot to Do" are sincere and full of Liverpudlian charm, "Railroad" seems rather twee and contrived. Nonetheless, this is a confident collection of songs, done justice throughout by ex-Lightning Seed Ian Broudie's crisp and uncluttered production. On the strength of Who Killed the Zutons?, the band shouldn't worry about watching their backs just yet.
Reviewer: Richard Banks
The Mersey combo pull their fingers out.
While The Coral seem to release records as often as the ferry crosses the Mersey, it’s been a long wait for the debut album from their label mates, The Zutons. But it’s worth it. Originally accused of being an identikit Merseybeat outfit, The Zutons have used the time to refine their own sound, aided by David McCabe’s belting soul vocals and the addition of slinky saxophonist Abi Harding. The results are buoyant tunes which owe more to Dexy’s than the 60s. Dead good.
Anna Chapman
ACTS that range far and wide over the pop terrain either sound like a bunch of opportunists or come back with something original. This Liverpudlian quintet at first seemed to belong to the former camp, but owing more to their label mates the Coral than either band can surely have felt comfortable with. Who Killed the Zutons? shows such forebodings were misplaced. Yes, it’s got enough luggage labels to make even the most restless nomad jealous, but something has, thrillingly, gelled between David McCabe and his cohorts, and made those nights listening to ancient ska and Dr John worthwhile. The Kinksian You Will You Won’t, the plangent Confusion and Not a Lot To Do, and the dirge-disguised-as-knees-up, Remember Me, are just four jewels on an album studded with gems.
Dan Cairns
The Madcap Merseyside spirit is still alive and well in the hands of these straggly funk and country merchants. With the same multi-layered approach as near-neighbours The Coral, The Zutons are simmering with broken-hearted ballads, muscle-knotted disco and Two Tone moon stomping. The potential is unmistakable.
FOR the last few years, Liverpool has experienced an infestation of retro beat combos, with the cream of the scene - the Coral - rising to the top. So far, none of their contemporaries has looked much like contenders but, with their b-movie imagery and barefoot saxophonist, the Zutons stand out from the pack. Their debut album threatens to deliver on their eccentric promise, opening its account with the quaint and quirky garage rhythm’n’blues of Zuton Fever and the minimalist shuffle of Pressure Point, one of this year’s more unusual top 20 hits. But thereafter, too many of the tracks sound like the Coral minus the hooks - and, as the Coral themselves demonstrated on their patchy last album, they can underachieve just fine on their own without anyone else copping their more mediocre moves.
Fiona Shepherd
Friday, 16th April 2004
While the rest of the country was going ape over dance music and Oasis, entire swathes of Merseyside spent the 1990s wearing big parkas, smoking wacky baccy and listening to then-unfashionable bands like Pink Floyd and Can. This curious alternative education has already spawned "Scallydelics" the Coral, and from the same label come the Zutons who are, if anything, more demented.
The Zutons' musical palette consists of squawky saxes, punk-funk, Captain Beefheart and obscure 1960s psyche-pop seven-inchers found in suspicious quantities in Liverpudlian second-hand shops. Pure popster Ian Broudie is the producer with the unenviable job of pulling these disparate strands into a cohesive pop record but has emerged with far more silk purse than sow's ear. The likes of Remember Me are spikily riffed, gloriously off-centre pop vignettes and Confusion shows that they can pen a bittersweet love ballad when need be. Only when Broudie indulges the band's madder side - usually involving that squawking saxophone - does the urge to kill the Zutons override the one to throw up your arms in crazed glee.
Dave Simpson
Friday April 16, 2004
God, you lot really are a suspicious bunch aren't you? It's the fickle world of indie, and diversity is dry humped to death with a complete disregard for quality control, whereas good, solid musical articulacy is viewed with all the suspicion of a prison inmate with a regular supply of cigarettes. It's not right, is it? So along come a rather new and and exciting gang, and immediately they're being pigeon-holed as nothing more than post-Coral copyists.
The facts: The Zutons are signed to Deltasonic, home of The Coral. They're from the borough of Liverpool, home of The Coral. They craft catchy, melodic pop songs with a slight skew, just like The Coral. In fact, they're nothing but a second-rate Coral, having been signed after The Coral. Right? Well, no.
'Who Killed The Zutons' is a thoughtful and inventive debut album that is more accomplished and accessible than the first offering by the Skelley crew. A largely even composite of sinewy rock (as typified by current single 'You Will You Won't') and jangling trademark scouse pop (the best of which being the inevitable single 'Remember Me'), it's the latter selection of tunes that will draw comparisons to the Hoylake lot, and before them The La's and Shack. Add to that a smattering of country, folk and blues, and it's a surprisingly nourishing listen. However, The Zutons have a decidedly darker heart than their current Liverpudlian peers - perhaps more akin to the brother's Head, Mick and John - and an endearing black fog surrounds their songs. Sample lyrics include "Well, the cops are at the door, and you know that they want more… you can hear the guns outside / watching riots with their eyes" from the melodramatic pop of 'Havana Gang Brawl', a semi-fantasy but clearly steeped in their own crazy locale. Breakthrough single 'You Will You Won't' typifies their fascination with the hours between the dusk and dawn; "You say you love day, but you only come out at night". 'Dirty Dancehall', however, shows a disgust with the brighter spots of their home city; "everyone's dancing / feeling fine / but looking like Zombies / as though they're dying… this is just a night in the city of culture / but everyone's wife looks like vultures". Nice stuff.
Indeed, the Zutons can spin an informed yarn with the best of them, and whilst the words may be delivered with a certain wryness, musically it's expertly and earnestly crafted. Opening duo 'Zuton Fever' and previous single 'Pressure Point' are taut and edgy, metered out with a metronomic precison, whilst the gentle folk of 'Confusion' is featherlite and lush. However, the most immediately endearing track and a potentially superb summer implosion is the La's-esque 'Remember Me' which despite it's jauntyness is a rather perverse eulogy to a best mate lost to romance. Singer Dave McCabe declares that he's "made a deal with the clouds / gonna turn that summer to rain … come and see me again". Nice. Sort of sums the Zutons up, really; great with a tune, but probably not the best characters to hang with in the search of a wholesome life.
Reviewed by Gareth Dobson
First things first, The Zutons are a fucking great band. They’re waay better than The Coral, exhibiting none of the tedious, skunk-smoke wackiness that characterises their labelmates. Just listen to their last two singles (‘Pressure Point’, ‘You Will You Won’t’) - both pulling off the sort of Sly and the Family Funk manoeuvres that would induce mass sniggering if attempted by most white guitar groups. Chief Zuton Dave McCabe sure can holler, and here they pull off merseybeat (‘Remember Me’), tender balladeering (‘Confusion’) and all kinds of other shit with the greatest of ease. They’ve got a bloody sax player, and it seems like the best idea ever!
But… (you could tell that was coming, couldn’t ya?) there’s a problem here, and its name is Ian Broudie. What’s the deal with all these scouse bands letting the fucking Lightning Weed smear their stuff with his sugar-coated shite? Save a couple of half decent Bunnymen tracks, what’s he ever done? Does he threaten ‘em, Phil Spector-style?
"NO! ‘DIRTY DANCEHALL’ WILL NOT HAVE A TOWERING, GARGANTUAN FUNKADELIC FEEL! WHAT IT NEEDS IS A VIRGIN RADIO SHEEN!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU THINK ‘HAVANA GANG BRAWL’ SOUNDS A LITTLE BIT TOO MUCH LIKE SOUL ASYLUM!? IT WORKED FOR THE CORAL, IT’LL FUCKING WELL WORK FOR YOU, YOU SCUMBAGS!"
Who killed The Zutons? You figure it out, Sherlock…
Hamish MacBain
reviewed on 08 Apr 2004
Even if you’ve spent years in la-la land, la’, you can’t have failed to notice that being in a Liverpudlian band is a not a privilege, it’s a predicament. First there's a huge bunch of glib naysayers writing you off as Coral copyists and indulging in bouts of Coral bingo where the appearance of Mariachi riffs and sea shanties means you can shout "scouse".
In fairness, though, around the time of their debut single the criticism could've been aimed at The Zutons. However since they first orbited planet pop they’ve chosen to blast off into a new direction. The early tracks ‘Creepin’ And A Crawlin’’ and ‘Rumblin’ Ramblin’’ have fallen behind as little more than burnt out booster rockets (tonight they’re the lowpoints and they don’t even appear on the forthcoming album). Judging by the downbeat tautness of ‘Dirty Dancehall’ and the razor riff of ‘Zuton Fever’, they’ve achieved Coral escape velocity already. And they’re moving on faster than you can say "Blur, is there life on Mars? Or indeed atop Damon’s thinning scalp?"
In short, the Zutons have done what musicologists term ‘get their shit together’. For where once you couldn’t have fit a soggy roach between their music and that of their Scouse peers, there’s a new bunch of magpie influences encompassing soul and southern-fried voodoo rock fuel. Meanwhile Abi Harding's sax augments their new drive as they belligerently prove their differences and, more importantly, how great they could be.
Take current single ‘Pressure Point’. Where previously it would be a routine psychedelic wafer generously washed down with Scouse charm, singer David McCabe’s paranoiac "pressure/pressure/pressure" refrain wonderfully assaults the temples as much as the ears. More importantly its insistent bass and drums interplay makes it irresistible to the feet.
In contrast the downbeat ‘Havana Gang Brawl’ is a strangely moving if confusing hymn of shootings and Merserybeatings between "blues" and "reds". It ranks alongside ‘You Will You Won’t’ - with its glorious ensemble belting out of the title refrain - as best song.
Sure some things remain unaltered; their mortal fear of the letter ‘g’ ( ‘Longtime Comin’’ etc.) is still up there with Jason Von Bondie’s dread of party invites from Jack White, but crucially they’ve recast themselves as contenders. The Zutons are leaving behind their peers, rocketing into a solar system of their own.
Anthony Thornton
The Zutons, the latest hailing from the buzzy Liverpool scene, have been lauded by the NME and recently made their "Hot 10" list. While many on this list disappear into the chasm, The Zutons might manage to stick around.
Pressure Point starts with quirky maracas and harmonised "woos" and interest is sparked immediately. Frontman Dave McCabe, the Zuton Man, bemoans his life that holds no special stresses, but still amounts to unmanageable pressures. These are vocalised with comic angst and a great rock voice in the chorus - quiet delight is near. A splendid guitar solo divides the track, and the song quickly builds to a crescendo of mayhem.
This however comes too soon, and despite being the perfect three minutes duration, the single doesn’t develop enough to really feel the havoc. I suspect that live this song is nasty and chaotic. Shame this doesn’t quite transpose to the single, because if it had had a dirtier production, allowing a freer rein to the disorder, the resulting 21st century madness could have really delighted.
Latest darlings of the Liverpool scene, five-piece The Zutons’ new single proves that the time is fast approaching for them to step out of the shadow of labelmates The Coral and stand on their own ten feet. With a deceptively low-fi intro, ‘Pressure Point’ is a frenzied exercise in melodic guitar pop fuelled by supersonic percussion and sultry saxophone that translates into a blast of pure energy live. Let’s hope the momentum is maintained when The Zutons release their debut album.
Signed to DeltaSonic (label home of The Coral), Liverpool based five-piece The Zutons release their second single, 'Creepin' An A Crawlin'', this week. From a similarly eccentric and eclectic musical school of thought as The Coral, this band (who're produced by Ian Broudie incidentally) have promised good things, and this two-tracker definitely delivers. A band to discover!
Showin’ admirable regard for syntax this is an accomplished single from Liverpool band The Zutons. In keeping with other proponents of the (North) West coast sound like labelmates The Coral this has all the hallmarks of another head-nodding classic. Produced by The Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie (there is only one producer in Liverpool) this is bluesy number means The Zutons are definitely a band to keep an eye on. A slow-burner.
T: I'm not sure exactly what it is about this single but something draws me into it and endears me to it enormously. Perhaps it's the song's simplicity itself that I am marvelling at, or maybe it's just the refreshingly stripped down production but, whatever it is, it's great.
N: I can tell this may be one of those you're either going to love or hate, or perhaps grow to love. It's certainly not an infection, but I can see that it's got its claws in you. Maybe, accept that it's quirky, wrap yourself in its company and submit. I'm drawn on this one. 9/10
More bracing guitar pop from Merseyside, this is a fantastic opening salvo from the wild west-preoccupied Zutons. Compadres of The Coral, but on this evidence a lot more musically straight-down-the-line, 'Devil's Deal' is a soul-powered holleration about going to the 'gates of hell'. Featuring a brilliant bit where someone strangles a guitar, it's full of northwestern promise. B-side 'Zutonkhamun' is a rather fine North African-scented instrumental. Smokin', in every sense.
The Zutons’ sound seems to be the bastard cousin (or something similar) to fellow neighbours/mates/touring-partners, The Coral. Honestly, such a parallel slant towards dreamy, early-80s blue-beat and Mexican lullabies – not to mention the big, husky singing-voice, of course – seems more contrived by the two Deltasonic newcomers than who’s set to win ‘Pop Idol’ (well, it’ll always be the one the mums love, won’t it?).
But, may it be remembered, would we rather be faced with such an adventurous, challenging, inventive bunch of ensembles such as this for the next few years, or yet more leather-jacket strummer, rock ‘n’ roll-types for another half-decade? The answer is simple. We’d prefer the sweet songsmithery of those willing to push the boundaries.
And, certainly, in terms of stretching the parameters, The Zutons’ highly aloof and atmospheric belting down of all things bizarre makes for, like their counterparts, compelling hearing; whether it’s the particularly accessible lead-tune, ‘Devil’s Deal’, or mildly haunting, melodica-driven instrumental, ‘Zutonkhamuun’, the effect is still that of experiencing a promising new set of guitar-strumpets.