6. The Zutons – ‘Who Killed The Zutons’

SIX!

So I decided to go back down memory lane, and listened to an album that I knew existed, and I’m sure my dad tried to get me to listen to, but never have! I found it in a charity shop a few months ago, took it home, and completely forgot about it! So I’ve still not listened to it! (Sorry dad).

Well, better late than never – ‘Who Killed The Zutons’…I dunno, Mark Ronson? (oohh shots fired!)

For anyone who doesn’t understand that, The Zutons wrote ‘Valerie’ – the song made famous by Amy Winehouse because Mark Ronson wanted to cover it in one of his cover compilation albums – Versions.

However – Valerie isn’t on this album!

This is a great album cover! It’s a very 50’s art style, and very of that generation too. Alien invasions and zombies were quite famous around that time (I think…I don’t actually know completely considering my DAD was born mid-50’s so it’s a bit out of HIS time let alone mine).

I really like the screenprint styling of the artwork – all block colours, limited amount of colours, bright colours. Colours. Speaking of colours (any Americans reading this are probably annoyed at the spelling by now), I really like the colour choice! Sort of a pastel salmon pink.

As for the music, it’s a really familiar sound, I know The Zutons came first, but it’s quite Kaiser Chiefs-y.

The first song – ‘Zuton Fever’ definitely is.
Starting with quite a vintage / 60’s electric guitar sound, and including a trumpet and bass along with the drums (love that cowbell!), it makes for a really great sound.

Oh yeah! And vocals! After listening to Ludovico Einaudi while writing the last blog, I forgot lyrics were a thing.
His voice is very of its time. A bit rough and ready but obviously he can sing. Kinda like Lily Allen. Also like the aforementioned Kaiser Chiefs.
“Ya know I get a funny feeling, like an epidemic running through my head. Ya know I got that feeling it’s the best. Got the Zuton Fever in my head!”
It’s nice to finally have an album where the lyrics are understandable, and not full of metaphors!

I actually think this song is literally them singing about how their songs are infectious and get stuck in your head. I might be wrong though!

Ah hoo hoo hoo

‘Pressure Point’ is next!
Now, I’ve heard this song before, and absolutely love it!
It’s so simple to begin with – starting with the band singing ‘Ah hoo hoo hoo’ over and over along to a shaker, then the drums roll in bringing the bass with it.
Then the main vocals come in, cutting off the ah hoo’s.
“I can’t get this pressure point out of my head”
I will admit, it’s a bit of a weird song, but it’s different! His vocals are quite high pitched, but sound delicate. A bit like someone who changes how they talk when you tell them you have a splitting headache.
After a while though, the drums and bass are joined by guitar and the vocals start screaming.

“Doctor oh doctor, I’m willing to learn. Well all of my bones, well they toss and they turn. Mother oh mother, I’m begging you please, to rid me of madness and cure this disease”

He also manages to sing the word ’pressure’ over and over in quick succession – which isn’t an easy accomplishment!
I think this is the first ever song I’ve heard which is about a headache…

Next up – ‘You Will You Won’t’
Starting with a manically strummed guitar which is then joined by bass and drums playing the same chords and timing as the drum solo from ‘In The Air Tonight’. It then cuts out and is taken over with vocals.
Shortly after, the music kicks in again and it sounds like Wild Cherry and The Beatles had a baby. A beautiful, very weird, baby.
You need to understand, I haven’t listened to THAT many bands. So I’m just going from what I’ve heard. This song sounds a bit like ‘Play That Funky Music’ mixed with ‘Come Together’ – to other people it might not sound anything like that – but to me it does!
“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.”

There’s one point where it sounds exactly like ‘Love Me Do’ by The Beatles – I can sing “so pleeeeaaase” and it fits brilliantly!

I swear these songs are turning me a little bit paranoid…I keep thinking of the lyrics and trying to decipher them, but I don’t think they actually need to. I legitimately think this song is just an argument with their partner...but that seems too simple!

‘Confusion’ is up next – to start with it sounds just like ‘Phantom Limb’ by The Shins. Just the bass line at the beginning. I could go straight into singing it (and believe me, I did). But then the guitar and vocals start, and it sounds just like another song I’ve heard before, but alas – I can’t remember who or what song!
You get away with it this time Zutons!

This is a really laid back song, mostly consisting of bass, guitar and vocals. It feels like quite a lazy song, like its dragging a bit, but it’s not – it just sounds like it’s been a long day for them. Like this is the 13^th time they’ve recorded the vocals. It started off full of enthusiasm and has withered over time.

“It’s funny how it tears me apart. Well first it breaks your head then your heart. I should’ve loved you better, from the start.”

After it gets going, a trumpet joins in (mostly just playing a stabbing note through half the song, which can get annoying!). Drums also join in on the chorus, but stay very simple.
To break the routine that continued through the song, the second half of the song is pretty much just solo’s – starting with a short trumpet solo, and followed by a lovely guitar solo.

Sticking with the more simple thinking about the songs meaning – this one is either about a man wanting to be friends with a girl but unintentionally led her on and now doesn’t know whether to stay friends or try being in a relationship together.

‘Havana Gang Brawl’ – great song title!

Also a great little drum solo to start off with, quickly chased by the guitar part from All My Life by Foo Fighters, but with a bit of trumpet.
The only reason why I keep comparing The Zutons to other bands is because parts of their songs sound like other songs – simple as that!. It also helps for the review, so people know what the music sounds like! And even though I compare them, they definitely have their own sound – it’s not a brand new, completely out there sound. But it’s obvious it’s them (as long as you know what they sound like!)

“Line the locals one by one, Fillin' bullets with their guns. Are you red or if you're blue, 'Cause tonight they’re gonna find the truth.”

This is yet another simple one! It’s about, surprisingly, 2 Havana gangs having a brawl. Nailed it!

Half way there! - ‘Railroad’

This sounds a lot like an acoustic version of ‘Big Jet Plane’ by Primal Scream. Well, the first 5 seconds do. After that it doesn’t remind me of anything else – which is good! It’s just a nice little twiddly guitar and drum piece with nursery rhyme style vocals.

“Although I’ve left you darling I’ll soon be back again. That’s what I said in China where all the work was dead. I hope you get my letters, I’ll write them every day. I’ll soon be heading eastwards. I’m hammering the nails.”

At the half way point it goes into a really nice little groove, and then dies down back to the same riff of just guitar, bass and drums. But after a little while the music begins to speed up slowly (speeding up slowly doesn’t make sense, and yet it actually does…)

“I’m working on the railroad. I dig away the time. I’m singing to the work song with memories in mind, of you!”

You guessed it – this song is about the financial depression that hit South Korea with the rise of Hitler.

Or it’s about a guy who works on the railroads but thinks about his partner all the time and send her letters….

‘Long Time Coming’ is next.

The Zutons are now starting to not sound like anyone! (Or the people who copied them didn’t get this far into the album!)

This is a great sounding song, with trashing drums, overdriven guitar and thumping bass – and what sounds like trumpets/saxophone. It’s topped off with powerful vocals. All squished into a 2 ½ min song!

“Long time coming, but no one seen it coming. Long gone then and your heart is still running.”

This is a really energetic song – and I still can’t for the life of me think of another song that this sounds like. It’s quite a stand out song, and doesn’t really match up with the other songs.

It is quite repetitive though, even though it’s so short. The music doesn’t change much, only really once towards the end of the song.

Oh! I just thought of a song that sounds a bit like it. It’s just the initial drums, nothing else, but it sounds like a song from my good friend and band mate, Al Lindsay. It’s ‘Life is a Motorbike’ – but only the first split second of drums – although I’m sure that’s been used in a number of songs, that’s the only one I can think of!

I think it’s singing about a friend whose partner left him. And it was a long time coming.

‘Nightmare Part II’ is next….even though I haven’t heard part 1. Is that what’s meant to be nightmarish about it?

There is no part 1……………………… O.O

Or it’s on a different album, I don’t know.

This is a nice groovy number – with quite swing/samba style drums and creepy sounding chords played on the guitar. The vocals are very recognisable as The Zutons. Which sounds like a strange thing to say, but his voice is different in each song – though it’s similar to ‘Railroad’, with the same kind of nursery rhyme vibe with the vocals. It’s quite Itsy Bitsy Spider.

“Last night I had a bad dream, and it blew my head away, and there was no solution, and I’ve been awake all day”.

It’s a very graphic song – mentioning vomiting priests, stabbings, dismembered limbs and strangling grandmas. (Like, grandmas being strangled – not grandmas who go around strangling people – just to clear up any confusion).

“They stabbed them in their bellies, and they ripped off arms and legs. But the demons started joking and had a drink instead. But the firemen they were on strike so they could not resolve, and the army cut the phone lines so they were not involved. And while all this was happening I was fast asleep, with a very foolish nightmare and memories I won’t keep.”

I think this is yet another predictable one regarding the subject matter. He had a bad dream.

Or did he?  OOoooOOOooOooooo spoooookyyyy

Not many to go now – ‘Not A Lot To Do’.

Gonna take a stab in the dark with this one, and say it’s him singing about not having much to do.

This song sounds like a mix of swing and blues, and I love it! It’s really relaxed with simple drums and bass accompanied by a bluesy guitar riff and the odd violin.

“Sunday afternoon, not a lot to do. Think of all the places I could be. People I could meet. Life’s so small.”

I don’t know what else to say about this song – I just want to sit here listening to it!
It’s so chill and lazy. Very Paolo Nutini – but doesn’t sound anything like him…. Bah, details.
It’s definitely the kind of song I could just lay in a hammock listening to, drifting in and out of sleep.

“And I can live on my own and stay in all day, and watch the rain falling down. I lay on my bed. I feel all left out and switch off my head.”

Like I predicted, the song IS about him not having much to do! But in a nice and artistic way!

Next up – ‘Remember Me’.

I really like the sound that The Zutons have. Guitar, bass, drums and saxophone. You don’t often hear sax – actually, that’s a lie. New music now usually always has a synthesized sax on it somewhere, but that’s not REAL. It’s usually just jabbing notes, unlike this, which is really nice and harmonising with the guitar.

The whole song is quite feel-good. But the story is quite sad. It’s about 2 men being best friends but one of them gets a girlfriend, and they stop hanging out as much. I think this is something that happens a lot – I mean, it’s happened to me. I stopped hanging out with my best friend as much because my girlfriend became my best friend and I love being with her.

“Well we used to be the best of friends and we used to hang around. Now I always see you and your new girlfriend on the sunny side of town. Oh your body is the same and your face hasn’t changed. But your mind ain’t where that’s at. You’re too busy hugging and kissing now, and for you that can’t be bad”

It starts off with the friend being annoyed that his friend doesn’t hang out with him anymore, and that they’re done as friends. But it then changes to him being there for his friend, and understands that he wants a girl in his life.

“Oh remember me when she leaves you and you come and knock on my door, well I can nurse your broken heart. Cause that’s what friends are for.”

‘Dirty Dancehall’ is in at number 11.

This starts off with an awesome guitar and drum riff. It’s very rock-y and I absolutely love it! The song then drops down to just drums and vocals – which reminds me of Radar Love by Golden Earring, especially when the bass joins in. Saxophone then makes another appearance in this song with quirky little licks.

“Well the sun grew dim and the night grew tall. Everyone’s dancing in the dirty dancehall. The chins they did wobble, the eyes did stare. There was a sense of threat in the air.”

I haven’t seen it, but I can imagine this in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It’s a bit creepy and talks about zombies and murder.

“Down in the alley a tramp falls asleep, murdering the hookers and chops off their feet.”

It also has a very satisfying and deep ‘Oooo’ which I could imagine Frankenstein’s monster singing. Which is a really random thought. But it would fit brilliantly!
It also has a load of screams towards the end. Think the Addams Family Musical – this would be the random song in the middle where the family is dancing at a ball.

“This is just a night in the City of Culture, but everyone’s whacked and looks like vultures.”

And finally, ‘Moons and Horror Shows’.

This goes back to acoustic, quite country in fact. It even sounds like they’re using spoons! They might just be cowbells, but still – those are pretty country too! I actually find it amazing how the cowbell has become such a huge thing! It’s on so many songs – and yet, it’s a bell that goes around a cows neck. (But, ironically, without the bell part. So it’s doesn’t actually ring…so it’s more like a Chinese bell. Which are struck using a beater (or a tree, depending on the size of bell!). But then I guess it would clash with the ‘China’ cymbal – which are only called that because they look like a gong. They don’t sound anything like each other, but as long as they look the same!
All the other cymbal names kinda make sense. The crash sounds like a crash. Same with the splash. You continuously play a ride (you ride it), and hi-hats go up and down (or one of them does at least).
Personally I think I have a cymbal with the best name ever. It’s a little 8” splash called the ROCKTAGON! (it’s an octagon shape), and it sounds just as good as the name! It’s the little cymbal that could.

Anyway, moving back to the song. It’s quite short, only 2 ½ minutes. And only has a few lines of words.

“Today in a day when many fine things will come. Today is just a memory tomorrow. I know that there’s some bad things to come, but I’ll forget them all until tomorrow” – that’s 4 lines out of 10. Although there’s a little bit of humming.

Half way through the song it slows down a little bit, and goes into a nice little group sing-a-long.

I think this is definitely the final song. Not just because it actually IS the last song, but it just has that feel. It would’ve worked perfectly if the album was called ‘Moons and Horror Shows’ because the last line is: “Then I dream of moons and horror shows. And then I’ll take up fresh and new tomorrow.”

It would’ve been the cherry on top!

Well, that’s another album done and dusted. And I can officially say I’m now a fan of The Zutons.

Their sound is unique and works really well! It’s a mixture of sounds I’ve heard before (both from before and after they formed), but it’s all the best bits!

I’ll be leaving this album on my iPod, and possibly finding another one of their albums (most likely one with Valerie on)!

Do you agree/disagree with anything I said? Like / dislike the review? Any constructive criticisms? Please leave a comment below! Would love to hear from you. Also, if you have any recommendations of albums I should listen to and review (as long as the artwork is awesome), let me know.

Thanks for reading, keep tuned for the next blog.

I will be reviewing ‘Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit’ by Courtney Barnett

Don’t forget to check out my website, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube below.

I’m doing these blogs alongside my better half; Fern Teather – she is listening to a new albums (doesn’t matter about the artwork, she’s trying to expand her musical knowledge and listen to new artists!). She’s also keeping a blog, and it’s nowhere near as long as this one, so go give it a read!!
Check it out here: 52-albums.blogspot.com

Remember me! ;)

Sam

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