Zatopeks - Loitering &. Sauntering Lp or Cd

The Zatopeks are back with a new album called ‘Loitering & Sauntering’! About bloody time, right?! Read below to see what Larry Livermore has to say about that!

One night not long before the dawn of a new millennium I found myself in a West London pub sat across from a hyperactive 18-year-old from South Ealing as he put away one pint after another in between telling me breathlessly about his plan to front a Lookout Records-style pop-punk band.

It was a tale I’d heard before, though not often with such enthusiasm. I almost felt bad that, having left Lookout Records the year before, I was no longer in a position to help this young man realise his dream. On the other hand, I’d grown a little too jaded, a little too cynical, and I told him what I’d told many other musicians who’d approached me with a similar idea.

“I admire your ambition,” I said, “but the kind of music you’re talking about had its heyday years ago. Are you sure you have anything new to add to the mix?”

He argued with me, not just about music but about many other things as well. Though he hadn’t even started university, he was extremely knowledgeable and articulate even when mistaken about something (some of these questions remain under discussion to this day; I’ll let you know if we ever reach a conclusion).

But when it came to the crucial matter, it was I who was wrong. Awfully, terribly wrong. If I thought there was little more to add to the genre of music I’d been involved with; that young man, later to be known as Will DeNiro (Professor Will DeNiro, as he’s now known; yes, he’s gained official authority to out-talk and out-argue me on any number of things) found a posse of similarly inclined musical geniuses, and together they formed the Zatopeks, plain and simply one of the best bands to come out of Britain this century.

There are many things to love about the Zatopeks – their wit and intelligence alone sets them apart from many run-of-the-mill punk bands – but I’m especially fond of the way they add a hefty dollop of 50s rock and roll and doo-wop to the mix, and how they don’t shy away from vital political issues, both past and present, yet manage to avoid beating you over the head with them.

Although they started out in Britain, two out of the five Zatopeks now live in Germany, having made their own reverse Brexit some years ago. Their sound, though, can’t be fixed to any one time or place: American influences abound along with the British and continental ones. They’re one of those rare bands that continues to get better with age, and whose music continues to yield new treasures on repeated listenings. That kid in the pub back in 1998 may have had the last laugh on me by turning his crazy punk rock dreams into reality, but though I don’t usually enjoy being proven wrong, this is one of those cases where being wrong never felt so right.
– Larry Livermore

1. Kings Of The Hotel Mile
2. Fine Sunny Day
3. Ghosts In The System
4. Stranded In The City
5. Central European Time
6. Blueprints For An Unlived Life
7. Jarama Valley
8. At The Stadium
9. The Hairstyles of Mieczysław Rakowski
10. Magdalene
11. Midnight In East Berlin
12. Angel Of The Old Town