The Zutons live at Glastonbury 2004 – Recorded July 27, 2004 – BBC Radio –
The Zutons to start the week. Recorded live at Glastonbury 2004 by the ever-present BBC Radio engineers and broadcast on July 27, 2004.
The Zutons formed in Liverpool in 2001, taking their name from Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band guitarist Zoot Horn Rollo. Dave McCabe had previously been in the band Tramp Attack. Both Pritchard and Payne were members of Edgar Jones’ post Stairs band The Big Kids (with Sean’s brother Howie Payne of The Stands). The band was originally a four-piece, before Payne’s girlfriend Abi Harding began joining The Zutons on stage for a couple of songs mid-set, playing simple saxophone lines. The other band members liked the way her saxophone enhanced their sound and Harding became a full member, contributing vocals and sax.
Deltasonic head Alan Wills was initially dubious about the musical talents of McCabe: “I’d heard other bands Dave had played in and I thought they were all rubbish”. The Coral’s James Skelly was persistent in trying to convince Wills of his friend’s potential and the breakthrough finally came when the bedroom demos of the newly formed Zutons persuaded the Deltasonic head into working with them.
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, shared the same producer, Ian Broudie, and were good friends, with McCabe having previously written songs with James Skelly. 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, Sublime and Madness.
The band released their third studio album titled You Can Do Anything on 2 June 2008. It was the band’s first album to feature Molloy on lead guitar. The first single was “Always Right Behind You” which was released on 26 May 2008. The album was recorded earlier in the year in Los Angeles, California. On 17 May 2008 The Zutons appeared on Soccer AM as guest stars. They performed “Always Right Behind You” at the end to celebrate the last show of the season. 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.
On 26 July 2008, The Zutons performed at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival for a third time. On 30 August 2008, the band appeared at the Indie Festival, Jersey Live, headlining the festival along with The Prodigy. Over the 2008 Christmas holidays, the Zutons were dropped from Sony/BMG.
Following a run of 2009 festival performances including Summer Sundae in Leicester and Wickerman Festival, the band quietly disbanded.
In November 2018 the band announced a reunion tour to play Who Killed….. The Zutons?’ on its 15th anniversary. While original members Dave McCabe, Boyan Chowdhury, Sean Payne and Abi Harding were all on board, Russell Pritchard confirmed via social media that he was not taking part in the reunion tour. In place of Pritchard, Cast member Jay Lewis was recruited to play bass. The band once again split following the conclusion of the tour.
As a reminder of their earlier period, here’s that 2004 Glastonbury concert to crank up and rock out.
