The Zutons - Who Killed The Zutons

No - The Zutons are nothing like The Coral. OK, they may be on the same label, the same city, make the same off kilter pop songs… but that’s it.

This is a band twice as vital as Skelley and co, and thats one hell of a claim. If you thought The Coral were fresh when they first burst onto the scene, this lot aren’t even ripe yet.

‘Who Killed The Zutons’ is both thoughtful and immediate. From the zombie flavoured rock of current single ‘You Will, You Won’t’ to the almost typical scouse guitar jangle of ‘Havana Club Brawl’, the band prove they can pay homage to their forefathers and still have their own sound. The Zutons are much darker than any of their contemporaries, without ever sounding morbid with it.

Hypnotic and metronomic, and yet with enough of a sense of humour to be anything but depressing, ‘Zuton Fever’ and ‘Pressure Point’ give a glance of just how far these Liverpudlian upstarts could go, while the more placid folkish stylings of ‘Confusion’ prove they’re no one trick pony.

If there’s one thing this album should do, it’s to stop lazy journalists like us comparing them to that band. On the evidence here, it won’t be long before people are heralding the rise of the next Zutons anyway.