Formation The Zutons formed in
Liverpool in 2001, taking their name from
Captain Beefheart's Magic Band guitarist
Zoot Horn Rollo. 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 Jay had played in and I thought they were all rubbish". 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.
Early singles and Who Killed...... The Zutons? (2002–2005) 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 No. 13 in the UK album chart. However, after nearly a year, it moved up to No. 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.
Tired of Hanging Around (2006–2007) The new album
Tired of Hanging Around was released on 17 April 2006 and reached No. 2 in the UK album charts. The first two singles from the album, "
Why Won't You Give Me Your Love?" and "
Valerie", both peaked at 9 in the UK 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 2 September 2006 before their second UK tour, which began in November 2006. In October 2006, they performed at
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 interview 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." The band announced on 13 July 2007 that guitarist Boyan Chowdhury had left The Zutons, citing "musical differences". In late 2007, Paul Molloy, formerly of The Skylarks and
The Stands, joined the band.
You Can Do Anything and split (2008–2009) 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. Chowdhury formed a new band, the Venus Fury, shortly after his departure from The Zutons. In May 2013, he collaborated with musician David South and scriptwriter Michelle Langan to produce
Shoebox, a musical theatre play set in 1950s Liverpool. In 2016, Harding became the keyboardist and saxophonist for
The Lightning Seeds, the band of the Zutons' former producer
Ian Broudie.
Reunion and The Big Decider (2016–present) In April 2016, three members of the band, including original guitarist Chowdhury, performed at a tribute concert for the Warrington indie rock group
Viola Beach, whose members had died earlier that year in a car accident in Sweden. On 23 June 2016, it was announced that the original line-up of the band would reform for a one-off gig at Mountford Hall, Liverpool, on 30 September 2016. A fundraiser in celebration of their friend, actor and former
Tramp Attack frontman Kristian Ealey, who died earlier in the year. The show was billed as the band's "last ever". McCabe explained: "I'm not against doing gigs as The Zutons, it's the others who don't want to keep doing it, and I understand why. With two of them it's personal issues and Russ plays with Noel Gallagher." He also revealed that the band almost reformed in 2014 to mark the tenth anniversary of the band's debut album but that, "if The Zutons were ever to reform properly, I don't think it would be the original line-up". In November 2018, the band announced a reunion tour to play
Who Killed..... The Zutons? on its 15th anniversary. In place of Pritchard,
Cast member
Jay Lewis was recruited to play bass. On 27 July 2021, the band announced via their Twitter page that they were to support
Nile Rodgers on one of the UK dates of his tour. They also confirmed that Rodgers would be producing the band's fourth studio album. On 24 October, they posted a photo with Rodgers at
Abbey Road Studios while working on their fourth album. In November 2023, the band announced that their fourth studio album,
The Big Decider, would be released on 26 April 2024. The new album announcement was accompanied by news that the band was to play a series of 22 UK gigs in smaller venues from late January to March 2024. Strong sales for these shows led to the tour being extended with 11 more UK appearances throughout April at larger venues. On 20 March 2025, The Zutons announced via their Facebook page that Sean Payne had left the band, and would be replaced on tour by Paul Maguire, former drummer with
the Stairs. Maguire had previously played with the Zutons in 2004 when Payne broke his fingers. ==Members==