The Zookeepers - Good Looking Out

Not content with sitting on their laurels after we awarded them our number 1 record of 2009 for Ballin Outrageous, the Zookeepers have returned to the studio and biffed out another LP. Holy shit. I guess when you’re on a roll…

I must admit, part of me wanted to find something to dislike with their new LP - Good Looking Out. If I wrote another glowing review, perhaps people would start thinking I worked for the band, or was related to them, or fancied the drummer.

But I have to tell you guys the truth, and the truth is they’ve come up with another winner.

Good Looking Out is another fucking brilliant record, which has been on repeat on my stereo since I downloaded it a couple of weeks ago.

It’s a more accessible beast than last year’s two Zookeepers releases, but it’s lost none of the shaky wired charm and dadaist wit that made them so special.

Opener Lady Gaga is a work of genius. Like a pop LCD Soundsystem, it powers through a narrative about Lady Gaga’s dislike of pants and how ‘you’d like this more if it were Lady Gaga’.

Custardy Battle could be a cross over indie hip hop smash, due in no small part to a stellar cameo from Kid Static who manages to add some subtle substance to the absurdist refrain ‘a custardy battle for the rights to this flan’.

Download Custardy Battle here.

As the album progresses, the tunes unravel further, spiralling out of the relative control displayed on the earlier tracks and into insanity. Radioactive keeps things together, but ‘He’s a Creeper’ is a journey into Unicorns/Fiery Furnaces’ lala land with melodramatic piano and impassoned vocals. It’s probably my favourite track on the record.

Similarly, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull is a tune that dissolves into madness, starting off with Jeff the Brotherhood style chunkiness before disipating into an X-Files theme from an alternate reality.

If you haven’t discovered the joys of The Zookeepers now, shame on you! Rectify this now by heading over to bandcamp and downloading their album.

Get Good Looking Out here

Conniseurs may be interested to learn that Good Looking Out will get a physical release on CD. Details as they emerge on the Zookeepers website.

Check out The Zookeepers on myspace