The Zutons - Tired Of Hanging Around

It’s three tracks into the new Zutons album and DIY is yawning. Not just a little bit; Night Nurse never worked so well. We’ve swayed a bit, debated if Dave McCabe actually does sound like Robbie Fowler, or if it’s just the fact they’re both Scouse, and come to the conclusion that our mums would probably like this. A real party atmosphere.

There’s something oddly worrying about ‘Tired Of Hanging Around’. Like a cynical industry study in ‘sounding a bit indie while trying to sell to the middle aged men’, somewhere the strangely endearing moments of the band’s debut have gone missing. Instead we’ve got oddly warm, yet ultimately boring atmospherics on tracks like the forgettable ‘Valerie’. ‘Secrets’ is typical Deltasonic fare (imagine the Dead 60s trying to do the chorus from a Dogs Die In Hot Cars song), while the lack of inspiration on ‘How Does It Feel’ would give Richard Ashcroft a run for his money.

It’s a sad state of affairs; with the usually amazing Stephen Street brought in to perform the production duties, you’d at least expect something with a bit more punch. While ‘Tired Of Hanging Around’ sounds a million dollars, that’s half the problem. The quirky edges have all been rounded off, and in their place stands a band made for daytime Radio One; unchallenging, inoffensive, pleasant enough but infuriating on repeated listens. Background music for people in beige, ‘Who Killed The Zutons’ seems more apt than ever.