Who Killed …… The Zutons?

Released twenty years ago almost to the day, April 19 2004. After all these years the album title seems quite apt. Whatever happened to the band who were riding on the crest of a wave in the mid noughties with a string of catchy tunes?

After years of seeming inaction, the band make a long awaited comeback with their first album since 2008 entitled The Big Decider.

With a gig this week at Glasgow’s SWG3 to look forward to, it felt an appropriate time to look back on their debut album, Who Killed …… The Zutons?

The first thing that struck me on listening to the album again after several years stashed away in ‘The Collection’, was how familiar the songs were, from each of the opening bars.

The album itself stayed in or around the top 100 albums in the UK for over 50 weeks and spawned 5 singles that brushed themselves into the top 40 charts too. The album also sneaked in at No. 29 in the NME Best indie rock albums that year.

It obviously had some pedigree back then and struck a chord or two with fans across the country.

The opening track is fairly presciant too with a first verse hinting at the success the band would have in the following years.

You know I get a funny feeling
Like an epidemic running through my head
Know I’ve got that feeling that’s the best
Got the Zuton Fever in my head

Indie rock music with a splash of sax tends to get the toes tapping and The Zutons are definitely in the This Music’s For Dancing category. You Will You Won’t, Remember Me and Don’t Ever Think (Too much) have that Madness/Dexys feel to them.

It’s an album full of pop tunes with the occasional ballad like Confusion and Railroad thrown in for good measure and differentiation.

On looking back at some of the reviews the album received on release, it might be easy to conclude that there were any number of suspects looking to Kill the Zutons. While some liked the jaunty, fun filled nature of the songs, others offered a slightly more scathing viewpoint, from the musical arrangements to the lack of depth in the songs.

If anything it goes to prove that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’.

I found the album to be a reminder of a period in music when every week there was a plethora of great music being released in differing shades of the music palette.

It’s a fine debut hinting at a fun filled future that maybe wasn’t fully seen through. Their next album would see the single Valerie get them into the top 10 of the UK charts. The song was then re-recorded by a certain Mark Ronson with Amy Whitehouse on vocal duty which saw the single peak at No.2 and become one of the top selling singles of 2007.

With The Big Decider being released next week, the gig at SWG3 this coming Thursday, I’m hoping that they have lost none of the swagger, none of the jauntiness and none of the sax playing that made Who Killed ….. The Zutons such a joy to listen to again.

In fact at this point, I ‘Got the Zuton Fever in my head‘!

The single off the album below certainly sounds just what the doctor ordered! Can see me creeping onto the home dancefloor with this!! 😉

Sounding a bit like Chic at points? I think we can thank producer Nile Rodgers for that!