“Something Else By The Kinks”: A real pop gem

When the “British Invasion” broke out, the single was still the measure of all things pop: two songs on 17cm of soot-blackened polyvinyl chloride that could start and end careers. Like many of their colleagues, The Yardbirds, Them, The Zombies, Small Faces and Animals, the Kinks were primarily a singles band in the mid-sixties, whose first attempts at LPs were rather mixed.

The typical mix of single hits and cover versions of old blues and rock’n’roll hits soon became obsolete; fans expected stringency and originality – something not every band was able to deliver. The Kinks took up the challenge and presented a serviceable album with “Face To Face” in 1966.

A year later, however, the successor “Something Else” was much more mature and well-rounded: a gem of British pop art, populated by all sorts of illustrious figures. In detail: about alpha males (“David Watts”), lonely melancholics (“AfternoonTea”, “End Of The Season”), frustrated housewives (“Two Sisters”), couples in love (“Waterloo Sunset”), hobby philosophers (“Lazy Old Sun”) and cowering losers (“Situation Vacant”).

Songs that tell stories. Gathered together on an album that can confidently be described as an audio book.