A few solid moments to their debut was enough to galvanise The Kinks. An early, all-time great under their belt that would continue long into their performances over the decades they were together, the band simply had to crack out another hit. They didn’t quite get there on Kinda Kinks, the follow-up to their self-titled debut, but they did begin building the framework for what was, essentially, a chance to change up their setlist with new tracks. Albums released around this time for bands that were not The Beatles felt more like fodder for the tour than anything articulate or artistically liberating for bands. That’s no problem, though, The Kinks had plenty of albums scratching that particular itch. This is more of a nostalgia project for those who remember listening to music on a radio the size of a dishwasher. From the very first song, Look for Me Baby, it sounds as though the weightiness of The Kinks’ music has been removed.
What has been removed, too, is the unrefined, jagged style of the first album. It’s a tragedy, but a short one at least. Look for Me Baby is an uneventful song of braggadocious, lost love, a former partner searching the world over for a better option. Kinda Kinks plays to the pop standards and certainly has that Beatles-adjacent sound, something The Kinks would thankfully ditch in the years to come. Independence is the frequent message which comes through Kinda Kinks. Got My Feet on the Ground is a song of being fine without the chip on your shoulder or the third party making life that little bit easier. A tone of romance filters in, naturally, and it works relatively well. Some of the tracks sound as though they’re too close to the style they’re leaping from and, as a result, sound like pale imitations of other artists. The bluesy sound of Naggin’ Woman isn’t just skirting the line of offensively out of date even for the time, but it feels more like a cheap rip on Duane Eddy twangs.
Unconvincing songs continue, with the quiet yet jealous-sounding and controlling handwringing of Wonder Where My Baby is Tonight a real miserable encounter with the songwriting of the times. But it sounds poor now and compare it to other material from up-and-coming bands in the 1960s and it sounds poor then, too. It’s hard to come around to The Kinks’ messy instrumental style on this one because what they managed on their debut is not only much superior, but is paired with lyrics worth noting. Kinda Kinks does, as the title suggests, kind of sound like what The Kinks would do. It sounds absent of inspiration, which is such a shame to experience, but there are a few brighter moments within. Even a cover of Dancing in the Street, a classic of the times, falls flat. Far from miserable listening, but so far removed from what The Kinks had done before, and what they would follow Kinda Kinks up with.
The Kinks were not quite ready at this point to adapt to the constant touring, recording, and touring again. They just didn’t have enough material to do that with, let alone when they add covers of Marvin Gaye in too. It just doesn’t gel for them at this stage and they make themselves sound a bit more like a band with too much fodder than a group whose strong writing style would give us some all-time greats from the 1960s. Something Better Beginning is, at least, a sign of change on the horizon for The Kinks, a promising end to a dud album, which any artist putting out so much material in such a short window is going to have. An inevitability which we can knock out of our minds, but not quite ignore. It has some solid songs but a lot of it feels like rather lacklustre material cut from the first album.
It’s a great record, taken by itself. It doesn’t have to live up to anything else. Dave sings several songs as I recall, so much the better.