Ray Davies, lead singer\/songwriter of The Kinks, is not fond of 1965\u2019s Kinda Kinks<\/i>, the British band\u2019s second album. In the liner notes of Castle Music\u2019s rerelease, he says they \u201chad to do that album in a week\u201d and that it didn\u2019t stay at the top of the charts because of \u201cthe good taste of our fans.\u201d <\/p>\n
Disaster or not, Kinda Kinks<\/i> was my first Kinks album (I snatched it for about $7), the first time I gave the band a real shot. Previously I was only familiar with \u201cYou Really Got Me,\u201d and while I recognized the historical significance of the single, I had never enjoyed listening to it. But I developed a strong interest in the band after this album. The tracks aren\u2019t as loud as \u201cYou Really Got Me,\u201d but some of the songwriting hints at Davies\u2019 great potential. <\/p>\n
Having said that, the album kinda sucks. The production is unpolished, and the songs often don\u2019t hook you like they should. \u201cLook For Me Baby\u201d features soulless vocals and awkward drumming. \u201cGot My Feet On The Ground\u201d has the right amount of energy but comes across as rushed — the song ends once it becomes interesting. It\u2019s not until \u201cNothin\u2019 In The World Can Stop Me Worryin\u2019 \u2019Bout That Girl\u201d that a good guitar riff is played, and the chorus is quite hummable. <\/p>\n
The biggest hit from Kinda Kinks<\/i>, \u201cTired of Waiting For You,\u201d is surprisingly effective given the desperation behind the album\u2019s recording. \u201cIt\u2019s your life \/ And you can do what you want \/ Do what you like,\u201d Davies calmly sings before pleading \u201cBut please don\u2019t keep-a me waiting \/ Please don\u2019t keep-a me waiting\u201d as the band pulses into overdrive. Definitely one of The Kinks\u2019 best moments. <\/p>\n
\u201cTired Of Waiting For You,\u201d along with \u201cWonder Where My Baby Is Tonight,\u201d is sandwiched between two atrocious covers. Lead guitarist\/vocalist Dave Davies — as well as founding member and Ray\u2019s brother — sings \u201cNaggin\u2019 Woman,\u201d a track I wish was forgettable because it\u2019s so bad. \u201cDancing In The Street,\u201d originally recorded by Martha And The Vandellas, isn\u2019t much better. The vocals are lazy and plagued by embarrassing production. <\/p>\n
Out of the remaining tracks, \u201cDon\u2019t Ever Change\u201d is perhaps the best. Conceptually, it is a simple love song, but I sense a sinister quality in Ray\u2019s voice, almost as if he is ordering someone rather than making a romantic wish. <\/p>\n
Perhaps Kinda Kinks<\/i> is not as terrible as Ray Davies would have you believe, but the production can be quite sloppy, the decent songs are usually too brief (e.g., \u201cSo Long\u201d), and the faster tracks are generally annoying. Think of this as an affordable glimpse of what The Kinks would go on to do. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":29703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6465],"rating":[5619],"class_list":["post-41305","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-kinks","rating-rating-c"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41305"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41305"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}