The Zutons - Tired of Hanging Around

It took me a while to fully appreciate The Zutons, but I do now. This Liverpool based quintet formed in 2002 and sold 600,000 copies of their debut album Who Killed The Zutons? In spite of being hard to pigeon hole under a genre (rock? Country? Some strange glam/be-bop hybrid?) have become very successful. This is their second album.

The CD kicks off with the single of the album title which is a guitar led rock track. This is followed by It’s the little Things we Do which is much more typical Zutons with a catchy chorus and a rockabilly beat. This is followed by the single Valerie with a fabulous rock ‘n’ roll beat and sing-along lyrics.

Someone Watching Over Me is more soulful then previous tracks, and this is something that the band have consciously tried to do, says front man and writer David McCabe on the band’s website, "We know how to put ourselves across better - and know how to put our feelings across. It's a lot harder and a lot more soulful. We wanted to make this album more like a live album." Secrets is another track that reveals this as does the mellow How Does it Feel? which is probably my favourite of their more soulful tracks, personally I prefer them at their rock ‘n’ roll best which returns with the next track, the stonking stalker single Why Won’t You Give Me Your Love?

This is followed by Oh Stacey (Look What You’ve Done) inspired by a girl the band met in America and her intent to self-destruct. You’ve Got a Friend In Me a slightly angst-ridden, gentle rock song. Hello Conscience almost sound like the product of a seventies glam rock band, but not, because these are the Zutons and they don’t do songs with just one influence. But it is also typically Zutons and probably the closest track to anything from their first album. The final track I Know I’ll Never Leave is a slower track, slightly depressive with interesting guitar usage.

Overall this is a very listenable album and all the tracks are instantly likeable, and it has been a long time since I have been able to say that about a CD I have bought.

The Zutons are:

David McCabe – vocals / guitar

Abi Harding – Saxophone

Boyan Chowdhury – guitar

Sean Payne – drums

Russell Pritchard – Bass.