In an age where music reissues, throwbacks and tributes seem more prevalent than creative innovation, it’s easy to become jaded. Lumping bands into contrived sub-genres like “post-Strokes” or “retro electro-pop” tends to do bands a disservice. The Zutons must have been worried about this-it is by no means the only off-kilter, British group of the moment-and it seems almost too easy to lump it together with fellow Liverpudlians The Coral.
Yet seconds into its debut album, Who Killed The Zutons, the single “You Will, You Won’t” challenges that cynical edge.
Clear vocals, funky rhythms and quirky harmonies richly fill out the song and define other singles, “Remember Me” and “Pressure Point.” On the latter, melodies are fleshed out with maracas, the indie equivalent of the cowbell, and, most interestingly, a bluesy saxophone. While the saxophone is generally characterized by the annoying solos it seems to always demand, whenever the sax appears on Who Killed the Zutons, it’s pleasantly understated and accents the sound.
While The Zutons tend to rely on its funkier upbeat tracks for substance, it shows surprising range with the more down-tempo “Moons and Horror Show” and especially on the ballad “Confusion,” the best track on the album. Bittersweet and pretty, it’s the only track with lyrics that center on more than horror movies or rhythm n’ blues kitsch.
Whether it’s a need to find a “The” band that isn’t a parody, or the undeniable potential that this debut hints at, I find myself forgiving the album’s weaker moments. Even at its most contrived, notably the chain-gang and honky-tonk “Railroad,” which just seems silly for a British band, the album is, if nothing else, catchy. So I just listen, and maybe even bop my head a little as I do it.
