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 MITCH ALEXANDER becomes intrinsically involved in the morning rituals of DAVE MCCABE, lead songwriter for Liverpool band THE ZUTONS. How so? Well, let’s just be thankful it wasn’t a video conference.
Cough. Splutter. A bit of a wheeze and then a breathy “hello?”. Oh dear, did I just ring a songwriter or an 80 year-old chain smoker, mere moments away from moving towards the light? “Oh yeah, this is Dave … just hold on for a sec” he replies, confirming that it’s the former. Another hacking of the lungs and he returns. “Sorry, you just woke me up,” he says rather deflatedly.
Some interviewers would feel slightly guilty about this, but not I. First of all, it’s a way to release some of my more sadistic and sociopathic tendencies, when squishing bugs no longer cuts it. Second of all, it’s around 11 o’clock in the morning on a weekday, why is he still in bed? Already saddling up to get on my moral high horse, his justification is the key to my BFF vault.
“Yeah, had a bit of a big one last night … went and saw Oasis,” McCabe explains. As a barely concealed uber fan, I’m eager to find Dave’s opinion of their newer stuff, particularly how it translates to a live setting of drunken Liverpudlians. “Actually, I’ve haven’t really heard much of it, but their old stuff still sounds amazing. Liam’s in fine form. It must be tough wanting to show new songs when you’ve got those two amazing albums from the start”.
McCabe must be able to relate to the quandary of the Gallaghers, following up two highly successful albums under a nation’s watchful eyes. This may have influenced why, for third album You Can Do Anything, they moved recording sessions from England to Los Angeles. He recalls the process as “one that seemed good at the time”, but one that saw the departure of founding guitarist Boyan Chowdury and McCabe coming to grips with some pretty severe writers’ block.
“Yeah, it was a bit tough, we had band members walk out, we were miles away from our friends and family – hang on, I’m just going to put you on speaker,” he says, as I notice a growing echo as he moves away from the phone. “But we felt it would be good to get out of England. If your label told you to spend six months in Los Angeles, would you do it?” he continues, returning to the phone. “Ok, I’ve put some pants on now … I’ve been naked this whole time”.
Shaking off this mental image, we consider how the tumultuous history of the album collides with the overtly optimistic album title. Consider this in relation to the first words you hear on opener Harder And Harder (“I need some protection / someone to show me the way”), and the band’s mindset becomes even harder to determine.
“With this album, we were basically looking for something more definite for a title. Who Killed The Zutons? and Tired Of Hanging Around … they didn’t say much. People have told us they think it’s a concept album, about one person who’s going through all this shit and the end message is that they should keep going, but that wasn’t [at this point he clears his throat of about 12 ounces of phlegm, a glorious sound to behold] what we were going for. But the next one looks like it may be more conceptual, we’ll see.”
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING by THE ZUTONS is out now through Deltasonic/Inertia. For more information check out www.thezutons.com
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