You Will, You Won't Enjoy The Zutons
Apr 29 '05
Pros
Some great, entertaining, upbeat, interesting songs...
Cons
A whole bunch of forgettable tracks...
The Bottom Line
If you're craving a little less disco or new wave retro pop-rock then The Zutons have some retro blues and R&B for you to taste test.
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Riding on the coattails of fellow hip alt-pop disco-rock bands like The Killers, Scissor Sisters, The Coral and Franz Ferdinand it seems that The Zutons have found a place in the hearts of music fans in the UK and are closing in on the United States.
Only just formed in 2002, the Liverpool-based band is fronted by David McCabe (singer/guitarist) and rounded out by guitarist Boyan Chowdhury, bassist Russell Pritchard, drummer Sean Payne, and Abi Harding on saxophone. While the fact remains that their 2004 debut Who Killed…The Zutons has yet to do much stateside, they have sold well in the UK and earned a subsequent Mercury Music Prize nomination. None of these things is of course synonymous with good music, but fortunately The Zutons have provided their fair share of up tempo and groovy entertainment on their first album.
The first thing that needs to be said about the band is that they don’t do anything new with their music. Franz Ferdinand has blazed this trail, and The Zutons do their best to appeal to the same crowd. I personally can’t complain—entertaining music is entertaining music regardless of obvious influences. In fact, their single Pressure Point is so instantaneously likable that Levis used it in a television ad stateside. Beginning with McCabe chanting awoo-ho-ho it is a retro-pop-rock track laced with great saxophones paired with in-your-face guitars and drums. As with their brethren, The Zutons look to the past for inspiration. Instead of just pop/disco/new wave they also toss in a good bit of blues-rock. I can’t help but love what they accomplish with great energy on a handful of the songs.
Who Killed…The Zutons definitely has it’s high and low points. For example, the first half is certainly superior to the second. The record company has picked up on this and the released official singles are mostly featured at the beginning of the album. This isn’t to say that there aren’t redeeming qualities about the latter part, but the album by and large loses steam as it progresses. Even though I enjoy much of this album it’s not hard to recognize a momentary flash in the pan when you see it (err—hear it). In defense of The Zutons, there are a goodly number of songs that are at least, if not better, then Pressure Point.
My favorite track is easily You Will You Won’t. The band’s blues leanings are augmented by a good bit of 1970’s funk-fortified R&B. It’s certainly a different direction for a band solidly among the current crop of retro rockers. Most unfortunate of course is the fact that this direction doesn’t work across the entire album. But back to the positives…You Will You Won’t is unquestionably great from the moment it starts. McCabe’s emotional wailing works nicely across the track but if it wasn’t for the bass guitar, sax, and heavy percussion the song wouldn’t work at all. The lyrics leave me energized in the same way that the Gomez track Whippin’ Piccadilly has for the past few years. It’s clearly an album standout even if it’s not everybody’s favorite.
You will you won't
You do you don't
You're saying you will
But you know you won't
You may you might
Your chest gets tight
You say you love day
But you come out at night
Coming in a close second is the summery ballad Confusion. It’s still a retro track but the tempo is slowed, the mood is lightened, and the appeal is probably more universal. The band sounds like they’re more into flower-power then big bass, heavy drums, and blues. The sparkling song makes me happy. It will make you happy too. The real problem with Who Killed…The Zutons becomes obvious as Confusion leads into Havana Gang Brawl. It stretches on far too long as it is repetitive, unfocused, unemotional, unoriginal, and painfully forgettable. From this point forward the album becomes awfully hit and miss Long Time Coming, Not a Lot to Do, Dirty Dancehall, and the honky-tonk/slide guitar overloaded Moons and Horror Shows included.
The “hit” portions come with the choppy and disaffected Railroad (complete with tapped cowbell), the sparkly and enchanting UK single Remember Me, and album ender Don’t Ever Think. Don’t Ever Think is a kinetic and fun and in retrospect one of the best songs here. It was a new song for the US release and well worth the addition. The remaining tracks, sorry to say, do little for me. It’s not they are bad really; they just don’t set The Zutons apart from the pack. I’m left dry and unimpressed and in the end the album stretches on much too long. If there is one more thing positive to say about The Zutons it is that they never try to be something else. It would have been easy for them to say “this isn’t working, let’s try DISCO!” I suppose that means they never sell out, but at the same time I wonder if maybe the band should try another influence on for size. I mean none of it is original and none of it is different so why not try disco, new wave, or straight rock, or straight rock on for size? It wouldn’t have likely hurt this album which is noticeably heavily weighted to the first half.
I am oddly pleased to have stumbled upon The Zutons and their strange and sometimes unrewarding debut. There are some unquestionably outstanding songs and some really forgettable missteps. In all, Who Killed…The Zutons is an average album that has some kicky and fun tracks. It’s well worth checking out for folks who are fond of the various facets of the “retro-rock-pop-disco-blues-new wave” movement.
Rating: 3/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Zutons Fever
02. Pressure Point
03. You Will You Won’t
04. Confusion
05. Havana Gang Brawl
06. Railroad
07. Long Time Coming
08. Nightmare, Pt. 2
09. Not a Lot to Do
10. Remember Me
11. Dirty Dancehall
12. Moons and Horror Shows
13. Don’t Ever Think (Too Much)
Recommended:
Yes
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