The Zombies

I have this memory of when I first got into the Shins five or six years ago. My Dad and I were sitting in an airport and I passed him my headphones playing the brilliant Oh, Inverted World! tune "Saint Simon." He said within seconds of his listen that this band was copying the Zombies. I couldn't help but feel angry because my Dad never likes 'new' music to his ears. By 'new' I mean songs that were written by artists beyond his time. So with that being said, my Dad really enjoys solo projects of artists he loved forty years ago. I suppose he's the fool your hating Robert Plant for, for releasing stuff beyond his years. Maybe a bad example, that Allison Krause/Robert Plant album was in fact pretty good.

My point of this note was to highlight the fact that The Shins really do sound like the Zombies and that The Zombies have crafted truly timeless music.

The Zombies have 3 studio albums that were created in their '60s prime. Most common and best put together is The Odessey & Oracle. Before that came the album The Zombies or in the UK it was titled Begin Here. It's pretty remarkable how much music they had between the two releases, but it really wasn't until Odessey that I feel they really harnessed their sound.

OK, slight tangent, but I find the Zombies' sound to be really easy to listen to, but very different from other '60s bands and bands today for that matter. If you haven't already, you must must must listen to the following songs for your education:

"You Really Got A Hold On Me/Bring It On Home To Me" (A brilliant mash up cover of two very similar songs! I love the longing in his voice, shame he hasn't kept this well in his senior years!)

"I'm Going Home"

"Care of Cell 44" (One of my favourite songs of all time!!)

"Beechwood Park" (A very pretty tune!)