Albums

The Zutons - You Can Do Anything

Paul Cook 16/06/2008

Rating: 3/5

'You Can Do Anything' is the third studio album by The Zutons and amongst other observations stands out for being stunningly average. Each track merges undetected into the next and before you realise you're halfway in and still searching for a belter of a track.

Aside from 'Always Right Behind You', the first song to be released from the album last month, the only real belter and only half of one at that is Family of Leeches. It's the best the band has to offer on the album, a promising track at first, beginning with a deep, muffled mixture of dark bass-lines and cutting guitars. Unfortunately the track then promptly digresses into a typically upbeat chorus of pop rock lyrics and overly simple riffs and drum beats.

What's Your Problem?, with it's saxophone stabs and catchy, simplistic vocals is the first instance of something enjoyable on the album and it takes two tracks of hollow, pedestrian lyrics to get to it. Then track six is the next dose of the classic Zutons jovial, country-tinged style with Don't Get Caught, a lighter, mellower taste of the band. Essentially, tracks like this are for easy listening and they achieve this with lightly picked riffs and harmonious vocals, rather than loud, brazen shouting which features on a number of less-than-enjoyable tracks.

The rest of the album is peppered with likeable riffs here, the odd dose of well written lyrics there and playful sax'/keyboard combinations throughout. What's left however is bulked out with over the top, brash power-chords and unusually boring lyrics and vocals to boot. Frontman Dave McCabe's singing is unvaried and only infrequently made better with the addition of Abi Harding's more exciting, refreshing voice making for a disappointing album on the whole with instances of under-explored brilliance.