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While it's easy to break Who Killed the Zutons? down into a series of emulations, you still end up wishing it wasn't all so plastic and more... well, lifelike.
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A thoughtful and inventive debut album that is more accomplished and accessible than the first offering by [The Coral].
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SpinThey find a woolly warmth and loopy generosity few English art-rockers have stumbled upon since the first Beta Band record. [Dec 2004, p.124]
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This sounds like a lost Coral album down to every last detail, which means that it seems silly to venture here unless you've at least bought one Coral album already.
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The band doesn't seem to have recombined The Coral's sources in a personal way; instead, it's made a crisp copy, with no spirit of its own.
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They’re waay better than The Coral, exhibiting none of the tedious, skunk-smoke wackiness that characterises their labelmates.
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Alternative PressFuse[s] the best parts of '60s rock and '90s rock without sounding dated (see Oasis) or contrived (paging Franz Ferdinand). [Jan 2005, p.113]
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BlenderWeird, hook-filled, and irresistible. [Nov 2004, p.146]
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Underpinning the entire record is a delightful pop sensibility that holds this rag-bag of ideas together.
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Q MagazineMcCabe details a stoner's humdrum city life a touch too convincingly at times, but the spirit of musical adventure is nonetheless commendable. [May 2004, p.111]
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It's a fine debut that hints at a finer future - and for their determined attempts to twist something new out of retro influences, we salute them.
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Entertainment WeeklyBlithe blues boogies for the tumbleweeds set. [22 Oct 2004, p.95]
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Inevitably, how they treat their dominant influences is what separates the Zutons from the Coral. While the Coral have yet to truly define their sound, The Zutons can bounce from funk, to zoot-suit swing (“Dirty Dancehall”) to alt-country (“Remember Me”) and yet have that tangible, original quality to their music that makes for an impressively cohesive debut album.
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Under The RadarThe swampy British folk-funk tracks stand on their own, making for a cracking debut. [#8, p.113]
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Who Killed...the Zutons is an unexpectedly impressive start, consistently showcasing off the band's dynamic songwriting and penchant for weird, sprawling throwdowns.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 19 out of 21
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Mixed: 1 out of 21
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Negative: 1 out of 21
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Nov 21, 2021Great album and sounds especially the saxophone. Confusion and You Will You Won’t are my favourites.
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KimmyHOct 30, 2007This is my all-time favorite album.
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skelly2010May 2, 2007I first encountered this band when they opened for Keane at a show i attended. They have long outlasted Keane in my music collection. A fine album.