Amazon.co.uk Review
If merry Liverpudlians the Zutons really do have aspirations to marry Talking Heads with Sly and the Family Stone they fail miserably on
Who Killed the Zutons?. There's a riot going on this debut album, but there's no bloodshed, just a mobbish custard pie confrontation between differing factions of pop history. Putting gimmickry to the fore, the Zutons start the album with their Monkees-styled theme tune "Zuton Fever", which could well be a cartoon voodoo version of Echo and the Bunnymen. Then the fun begins: obvious touchstones are the British invasion R&B of the Spencer Davis Group and the Animals (stompers such "Long Time Coming" and "You Will You Won't" are convincing vintage soul fakes) coupled with that awkward evolutionary blip in the 60s when white soulboys went psychedelic (see Zoot Money and Dantalion's Chariot). Add on some ghoulish surf guitars and creepy stuff about zombies, food poisoning and tropical diseases to keep fans of the Cramps happy and then append with the cheapest toy sax in rock since Laura Logic's punk parpings with X-Ray Spex. It works. Even so, the melancholic moments are the best, among them the Kinks-tinted, rainy-day ennui of "Not a Lot to Do" and the cruel-to-be-kind kiss-off of "Confusion" ("from day one, I led you on").
--Kevin Maidment
CD Description
Liverpool's Zutons blend pop, jazz, funk and general eclectism in their self proclaimed 'carnival music' on this their debut album. The album follows on from their top 20 single 'Pressure Point' evoking Devo, Captain Beefheart and Talking Heads amongst others. Whereas earlier comparisons were made with fellow Liverpudians The Coral, 'Who Killed The Zutons' shows the band defining their own unique style.
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