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So, to answer the question posed by their first album, did Mark Ronson kill The Zutons? One man and his troubled muse's version of Valerie was absolutely everywhere last year, and while the royalty cheques undoubtedly came in very handy, it raised expectations somewhat of the Liverpudlians.
Almost overnight, The Zutons shifted from quirky cult indie group to 'the band who wrote Valerie', meaning that suddenly a lot is riding on their third album.
The band reacted to this pressure by decamping to California and hooking up with producer George Drakoulis, the man behind the Black Crowes and who helped to produce Give Up But Don't Give In-era Primal Scream. An unusual choice perhaps, but one that - at first listen at least - sounds bang on the money.
For You Can Do Anything sounds terrific - Harder And Harder is an urgent, impressive opener, Don't Get Caught has a dusty, country feel to it while the excellent single Always Right Behind You will be blasting out of every barbecue this summer. Like Mud's Tiger Feet rewritten for the 21st century, it may prove a bit grating at first, but the sound of the band having an undoubted blast in the studio means they carry it off.
Having said all that, the songs here aren't amongst the strongest they've ever recorded. Whether the departure of guitarist Boyan Chowdhury had more of an effect than was first claimed, but the tracks just don't have the immediacy of the ones on the band's first two albums.
Whereas before there were touching vignettes like Oh Stacey, now we have the meandering jazzy touches of Dirty Rat, the slightly nasty, harping tendencies of Bumbag, and a constant need to coat every single track with Abi Harding's saxophone. She may well, for obvious reasons, be the focal point of the band, but sometimes less is more.
Having said that, a songwriter as talented as Dave McCabe doesn't lose it overnight. Freak is classic Zutons, the story of a gigolo telling tales of "getting lovin' through money" and spilling the beans on his clients. As usual with the Zutons, there's a dark side to the song, but McCabe's unerring ability to emphasise with his characters means that there's a warm glimpse of humanity there too.
Similarly, Family Of Leeches sees McCabe secretly lusting after the mother of a family who seem to bear a resemblance to that of the Gallaghers in TV's Shameless, while You Could Make The Four Walls Cry sees Harding duet with McCabe to a rather funky backing which, initially at least, recalls Take That's Shine, bizarrely enough.
Drakoulis' influence is all over the closing Little Red Door, full of slide guitar, mournful vocals and handclaps. Yet it does end the album on somewhat of a whimper, when it should be going out with a bang.
It neatly summarises the album as a whole in fact - it's not a bad record, but by The Zutons' own extremely high standards, it's a disappointment. And while it may well sell to those who were first introduced to them by Ronson, they could well be left wondering what the fuss is all about. Hopefully, they'll prove that next time around.
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