The British music press is notoriously fickle, slapping dumb, next-big-thing! hyperbole on nearly every asymmetrical haircut that stumbles along, but the Zutons-- with their blues-soul-punk pilfering and yawping saxophone-- deserve some of the drooling accolades (including a Mercury Prize nomination) that have been slopped on them over the past six months.
The Zutons have had to watch all their positive press be tempered by a slew of comparisons to fellow Liverpool-born, NME darlings the Coral ("cosmic scouse" is the proper genre name, for those prone to keeping track). Happily, the Zutons' multi-decade larceny is more decisive and inventive than anything the Coral have unleashed: Loopy, spastic, and perpetually impassioned, the Zutons squeal and kick like a scrubbed-up Deadly Snakes, flitting from weird, Devo-inspired disco jerks to steel-led country mourning to sax-driven swamp-funk. Ultimately, all the Zutons and the Coral actually share is a producer (the Fall and Echo and the Bunnyman twiddler Ian Broudie), a label (both are signed to UK indie Deltasonic), and completely incomprehensible accents.
Tight and polished, Who Killed...the Zutons lacks a bit of the loose, spiraling vehemence of the band's live show, but vocalist Dave McCabe is so unconscionably prone to moments of unwound ferocity-- twitching and squealing with microphone-eating fervor-- that his shrieks alone are more than enough to make up for the record's otherwise-alienating sheen. Likewise, saxophonist Abi Harding, who seems half-schooled in the finer points of horn-blowing, adds a welcome touch of scrappy grace, tooting with haphazard glee.
Packed with cowbell, handclaps, and twitchy disco rhythms, UK single "Pressure Point" (which was featured in a Levi's commercial earlier this year, soundtracking a dark-haired heroine's scramble up a tree while a dog chews her pants off), is, like much of who Who Killed...: tense, playful, and vaguely deranged, full of vocal hoots and loose, slinking drums. Opener "Zuton Fever" is a brash, self-referential mix of guitar diddles and sax puffs; "Havana Gang Brawl", with its urgent "Where will you sleep tonight?" queries is all nervous energy, heavy bass, and bleating vocals.
Who Killed...the Zutons is an unexpectedly impressive start, consistently showcasing off the band's dynamic songwriting and penchant for weird, sprawling throwdowns-- maybe just enough to transcend all the front page exclamation points.
