The Zutons - You Can Do Anything (2008)

Download Album:

Purchase CD:  

The Zutons released their third album, "You Can Do Anything", back in June in the UK. It reached number six on some kind of music chart (there are so many these days - how to distinguish what's credible and what's not is beyond me), though I'm having trouble understanding why it climbed that high.

The Zutons have talent...

In addition to having seen them and enjoying them live, they also wrote what is generally considered to be a damn fine song in Valerie.

However, the majority of that talent seems to have gone on holiday for the duration of the writing and recording of this, their latest effort.

None of the tracks have the jump and kick of their earlier material, although a few do come close.

The first single, Always Right Behind You is sort of dull. It's a bit boppy, very repetitive, and kinda soulless. It sounds like the theme tune to a really bad sitcom.

It has been rumoured they are going to release What's Your Problem? as the second single, which is probably the best move any record company has ever made - because it's actually a good song. It's catchy, it's upbeat, it features a sassy saxophonist, it's got a nice melody and it's structured well. All in all - it's a good pop song.

The rest of the album is pretty... meh.

Look, there is nothing really wrong with the 12 songs on "You Can Do Anything", they're just not particularly interesting, or new, or groundbreaking.

A few months ago we looked at another English pop/rock band – Dirty Pretty Things. Now, DPT were bad. They weren't just "meh", they were "Bleh, Boring, unoriginal, and stale".

So by no stretch of the imagination should you assume that I'm placing The Zutons in that ilk.

That said, this is a semi-disappointing third album from a band that is capable of writing very good pop songs. There are one or two legitimately good songs (What's Your Problem? and Give Me A Reason) and around ten average songs.

It's the kind of album that will really appeal to some people, utterly bore others and leave the rest sort of ambivalent. Fans will like it, haters won't change their minds, and everyone else will probably forget about it after five minutes.

Some tracks, like Family of Leeches have good moments (a nice chorus and some wicked riffage) but are overall fairly forgettable and uninteresting. The Zutons have a talent for writing songs but they are lacking whatever it is that makes them great songs, be it somewhere in the performance, the production, or in the song structure.

We've seen Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson make something pretty awesome out of Valerie, surpassing The Zutons' original in all respects.

There's just something about The Zutons that stops them from being amazing and keeps their feet firmly planted in the 'average pop rock' soil, and this album definitely reflects that. 

RATING: 2.5 out of 5

Download Album:

Purchase CD:  

Brought To You By The Dwarf