Today’s album is Who Killed… The Zutons? by The Zutons
The final album of my 26×26 project is Who Killed The Zutons, the Liverpool four-piece’s 2004 debut album.
Fronted by Dave McCabe, The Zutons are one of a number of great British bands we’ve seen in recent years. For me, the thing that makes The Zutons stand out from the others is the prominence of saxophonist Abi Harding. The sax is always present in their music, whether it be riffing and vamping in the background, or right up the front playing solos, it gives the band a real sound of their own.
I could have chosen any of The Zutons albums to write about, I like them all. But this being the debut album, and therefore around the longest, it’s just about my favourite.
The album begins with ‘Zuton Fever’, with that sax right in your face!
There were a few singles taken from the album, including ‘Pressure Point’, ‘Confusion’, ‘You Will You Won’t’ and a few others. All great singles, although they went on to have greater chart success with their second album ‘Tired Of Hanging Around’, which gave us the single ‘Valerie’ (later covered by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse).
The Zutons are a lot of fun to listen to – really well-crafted English pop music, with that twist provided by the sax which takes the standard pop-rock form to slightly different and interesting places.
Great album, great band – you’ll like it!
Standout track: Confusion (not a ‘typical’ Zutons track, but I really like it).
Other ‘Z’s who didn’t quite make it: The Zutons are my only ‘Z’, but I could have chosen any of their albums.
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