Occasionally, people ask me if I've been listening to anything new. All the time, I say; that's my job. Still, they persist: anything good?

If you've interrogated me about good new music over the last couple months, you've probably gotten one of three responses: slack-jawed silence, a starry-eyed fanboy rant about Ted Leo, or the name of whatever rap song I have in my head at the time . But, after months with nothing to say, I've finally stumbled on a good answer to that burning question: The Zutons.

The Zutons' new album Who Killed the Zutons? sounds sort of like The Kinks doing a country record, or what might happen if Thom Yorke stopped being sad and sang with Morphine (who would also have to stop being sad and defunct). More simply put, it's like a million different things smashing into each other, all of them awesome (and most of them British). Invasive melodies and straight-up songwriting give Who Killed the Zutons? its power-pop-pizza-party feel; never dour or difficult, like so much other U.K. rock, it's a real peach to listen to, and each and every track will set up shop in your brain and refuse to budge.

If you like catchy music in the rock 'n' roll style, well sir, Who Killed the Zutons? is your ticket to satisfaction town. It's not the most original record you'll ever hear, but it swings, and that's what counts.

Like they say on Reading Rainbow, you don't have to take my word for it. But since you asked, I'm telling you.

-- By Paul Thompson