The Zutons
is an English indie rock band from Liverpool. They were formed in 2001 but did not release their first album, Who Killed...... The Zutons?, until May 2004. They achieved their biggest hits with Why Won't You Give Me Your Love? and Valerie, both taken from their second studio album Tired of Hanging Around in 2006. Both singles reached #9 in the UK Singles Chart. Valerie was later covered by British female singer Amy Winehouse, who took the song to #2 in 2007.
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THE ZUTONS TICKETS
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History
The Zutons formed in
Liverpool in 2001, taking their name from
The Magic Band guitarist
Bill Harkleroad, better known as Zoot Horn (or "Zuton") Rollo. Dave McCabe had previously been in
Tramp Attack, and Russ and Sean were in The Big Kids (with Sean's brother Howie Payne of
The Stands). Originally a four-piece, Sean's girlfriend Abi Harding began joining The Zutons on stage for a couple of songs mid-set, playing simple
saxophone lines. She was very popular with the crowd. The other band members liked the way her saxophone enhanced their sound. Abi became a full member, contributing vocals and sax.
At first, the band had to battle comparisons to
The Coral. Both bands were
Merseyside bands prominent members of the
Liverpool music scene, on the same record label, and they shared the same producer,
Ian Broudie. The band's music has proved difficult to categorize, being described as "psychedelic cartoon punk" . McCabe, who is also the lead songwriter, includes amongst his influences
Talking Heads,
Devo,
Sly & the Family Stone,
Dexys Midnight Runners and
Madness.
The first record the band put out was the 3-track CD
Devil's Deal
, released in September 2002. The following spring they released
Creepin' And A Crawlin'
, and then the download-only single
Haunts Me
in November 2003. The band's "Z" logo was changed early in 2004 to avoid confusion with the
Zenith logo.
The Zutons' debut
album,
Who Killed...... The Zutons?
was released in April 2004, and initially reached #13 in the UK album chart. However, after nearly a year later, it managed to move up to #9 in early 2005. The LP had a specially printed
3-D cover and came with Zutons
3-D viewing glasses, which many fans then wore to their concerts. Early copies of the album also included a bonus 4-track CD of alternative versions of their songs. The album was critically acclaimed and was a nominee for the 2004
Mercury Music Prize. The band themselves were nominated for the British Breakthrough Act award at the 2005
BRIT Awards. The album was later re-issued following the single "
Don't Ever Think (Too Much)", with that song being added as track 13. The track "
Confusion" was used in a
Peugeot 307 car advert in the UK during 2004-2005. In the United States, the song "
Pressure Point" was featured in a commercial for Levi's.
The new album
Tired of Hanging Around
was released on April 17, 2006 and reached #2 in the UK album charts. The first single from the album "
Why Won't You Give Me Your Love?" and the second single "
Valerie" both peaked at 9 in the charts, a fair achievement considering their highest place previously had been with the single "Don't Ever Think (Too Much)" at 15. The band toured the UK in May 2006 following the release of this album. They played at the
Jersey Live Festival on September 2, 2006 before their second UK tour which began in November 2006. In October 2006, they performed at the
The Secret Policeman's Ball. On
New Year's Eve 2006, the Zutons appeared on
Jools Holland's annual
Hootenanny
on
BBC television on which they performed their songs "Valerie", "Why Don't You Give Me Your Love?" and "It's The Little Things We Do."
As the November tour began, the band gave an since September 2008}}" style="white-space: nowrap;">[
dead link]
to
STV discussing songwriting, making videos and their American dates with
The Killers. In a separate interview, Payne complained about the tendency of music writers and magazines to generalise a particular city as the breeding ground of new 'movements', "A lot of bands get lumped in when they’re in the same neck of the woods and journalists–especially in England–like to make a big deal out of that and make it into a scene, as if the individual bands aren’t good enough to write about."
[1]
The Zutons recorded a live session for
Live from Abbey Road
on 25 August 2006. Three songs from their second album were aired: "Hello Conscience", "I Know I'll Never Leave" and "Valerie" (with the ending of "Railroad" from "
Who Killed...... The Zutons?" attached to the end). Their performance was shown on Channel 4 in the UK and the Sundance Channel in the USA on an episode shared with
Shawn Colvin,
Nerina Pallot and
Ray LaMontagne.
On
17 May 2008 The Zutons appeared on
Soccer AM as guest stars. They played their new single at the end to celebrate the last show of the season.
The band announced on
July 13 2007 that guitarist Boyan Chowdhury has left The Zutons, citing "musical differences".
[2]
After Chowdhury left the band, bassist
Russell Pritchard claimed: "It was like splitting up with someone. It set us back in a way and moved us forward too. I had a little bit of a cry about it. I'm not ashamed to admit. It was hard confronting him about it". The band claim that Chowdhury's departure was a mutual decision. In late 2007, The Zutons asked multi-instrumentalist
Paul Molloy, formerly of
The Skylarks and
The Stands, to join the band. He has played with the band on such occasions as the
Isle of Wight Festival and
Radio 1's Big Weekend 2008.
The band released their third studio album titled
You Can Do Anything
on June 2, 2008. It was the band's first album to feature Paul Molloy on lead guitar. The first single was "
Always Right Behind You" which was released on May 26, 2008. The album was recorded earlier in the year in
Los Angeles, California
In the summer of 2008, The Zutons had their first UK tour in 2 years. They were scheduled to play seven gigs in forest settings as part of The
Forestry Commission's
Forest Tour.
[3]
On Saturday July 26 2008, The Zutons played in Japan's
Fuji Rock Festival for a third time. On August 30 2008 the Zutons appeared at the Indie Festival,
Jersey Live. They fronted the festival along with
The Prodigy.
[4]
The band was dropped from Sony/BMG over the 2008 Christmas holidays as a result of the band not meeting the label's sales expectations.
[5]
Discography
Studio albums
- Who Killed...... The Zutons?
(2004)
- Tired of Hanging Around
(2006)
- You Can Do Anything
(2008)
References
- Title Unavailable
- Zutons guitarist quits band
- The Zutons Live Music Tour 2008
- Fuji Rock Festival 08 - English
- Strangeglue