The Zutons

My friend, Emma, bought me the Zutons' debut album as a birthday present in 2005 (released October 18th 2004), Who Killed The Zutons?, which was a brilliant LP, I loved it and had it stuck in my CD player for a whole summer. It reached #9 on the album chart and was nominated for the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. The vinyl came with free 3D glasses! The follow up, Tired of Hanging Around was released on April 17th 2006. Their cover art is brilliant also. The cover art for WKtZ? was brilliant comic book aesthetics and all the singles followed the same style. Some Zutons:



Remember Me from the debut album, Who Killed the Zutons? I love the opening riff to this song, and sax rash. Great song about a girlfriend coming between a childhood into adulthood man-bond. Brilliant, poignant, sweet. "Well we used to be the best of friends/and we used to hang around/now I always see you with your new girlfriend/on the sunny side of town", "But I've made a deal with the clouds/gonna turn that sun into rain/so you forget about your love/and come and see me again", "Oh remember me? I'm your best friend/and we don't talk no more/so if you're in the neighbourhood don't forget to knock on my door". Released June 21st 2004.



It's the Little Things We Do, from the album Tired of Hanging Around. Hangover single for sure. Released 17th April 2006. A stomping entry at #47. "As your hangover unfolds/then the questions will arrive".



You Will You Won't. Released 5th April 2004. This has a stalling beat to it, like tripping along the bars of the song. I was ambivalent about it at first, and still am a little. It makes me feel a bit disoreintated but not in a rampant confusing head-whirring way, sort of like when you wake up and you're not sure what time of day it is, or indeed, what day it is. "You will you won't/you say you will/...but you know you won't".



The video for Why Won't You Give Me Your Love? One of my favourite tracks of theirs. It's edgy and paranoid and a bit angry. An amazing video too, wonderful choreography, acting and great fun. One of the best off the second album. It's freaky and creep, sociopathic and psychotic, it has too much Josef Fritzl about it. But it has both stalker and stalkee viewpoints which is what gives it the edge. Released April 3rd 2006. "What can I do?/what can I say?/to make you want me more?", she replies "I hear the same thing all the time/and you know that I don't care/well I don't like the way you're hanging around/and I sure don't like your hair". "I'll chain you up/I'll make you mine/I'll keep you locked downstairs/with all the bugs/and all the rats/I'll feed you rodent hair/I'll keep you in my cellar safe/oh I'll keep you there till dawn/I'll wait until the sun comes up/then I'll poke and prod you more". Yikes!



Always Right Behind You, Status Quoesque 2008 single. Jazzy, boppy, swing style. Released for download on 19th May 2008. It's a fun, summer grower, blooming about August is my bet. Very 1970s this.



Video for Pressure Point, 19th January 2004. I love the lyrics: "well all of my bones/they toss and they turn". #19 in the charts.



I think this, Oh Stacey (Look What You've Done!) - released 18th September 2007, is probably my favourite Zutons song, if not Remember Me or Why Won't You Give Me Your Love? I know Valerie was the big success from the second album, but I prefer this! "Well she should have went to school/and she should have made it through/but she never/and she should have studied hard/and she should have played the part/but she never", "Well she should have kept her head/and got out of bed more in the mornings/and she should have had her day/should have done it her way/but she never", "She made her father worry till he was sick/found him on the couch one night cold and stiff/now she drinks away the will and she's not proud of it", "Well she should have more time/to get to know the world a little better/and she should have more friends/to glue her brain and stick it back together", "Oh mother, was it always gonna be this way/"It didn't have to daughter, but I knew that's what you'd say"/I will put flowers on and visit every week/"That won't wake your father from his everlasting sleep". Is this the Zutons' version of Eleanor Rigby? ie. depressing tale of a woman's inadequate existence?



No video I'm afraid for Valerie. This is the biggest song off the second album, thanks to Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse's cover version for Ronson's Versions LP, and for Winehouse's solo Live Lounge performance pre-Version (bet Ronson was pissed off about that!). James Morrison, Sugababes and Panic at the Disco have also covered this track and Winehouse does it a lot on the road now. It reached #9 on the charts, released 19th June 2006. Great cover design too.