97. The Kinks — Something Else (1967)

1. Ugh, I fell off the wagon again. It’s been awhile since posting. This usually happens when I encounter an album that I’m apathetic about; neither hate enough to shitpost, nor love enough to embrace. I end up dreading writing the post, and don’t write the post. But paradoxically, I end up listening to those albums a ton, since I listen as I write and I need a reminder. And then a funny thing often happens; I end up liking the album quite a bit!
2. I’m a firm believer that a lot of things people don’t like is simply because they’re unfamiliar, and if they spent more time with them, they’d fall in love. I’ve seen this time and time again with bands like Radiohead or LCD Soundsystem. Just keep listening, and as your brain familiarizes itself with the new sound, it often becomes a new favorite.
3. I wouldn’t go quite that far with “Something Else,” but this album is way catchier than I realized at first glance. It was a bit jarring to hear an old school British invasion album (“old school” being a relative term here, obviously). These are fun tunes, upbeat, clever. I really, really enjoy it.
4. “David Watts” kicks things off with a tale of desiring a classmate’s life (or maybe just the classmate). “Situation Vacant” is effortlessly cool. “Waterloo Sunset” is a killer album closer, a classic wrap-up tune. There’s really very little here that I did not end up really enjoying.
5. What I’m saying is: give Something Else a shot. Or maybe give it 3–4!

One Essential Song:

Listen on Spotify: