1. David Watts*
2. Death of a Clown
3. Two Sisters*
4. No Return
5. Harry Rag
6. Tin Soldier Man
7. Situation Vacant
8. Love Me Till the Sun Shines
9. Lazy Old Sun
10. Afternoon Tea
11. Funny Face
12. End of the Season
13. Waterloo Sunset*
A
You know, I'm quite fond of the Kinks, but for some reason the only albums of theirs that I've actually heard in full are this and Face to Face (I might have heard Lola Vs. Powerman but I honestly can't remember). Well I suppose one of the reasons I'm doing this project is to remedy things like that.
Anyway, this is one of my personal favourites. Face to Face saw Ray Davies maturing as a songwriter, and Something Else... is the album where that really bears fruit. The songs I've marked above are three of the finest ever written. "David Watts" is a hilarious character piece, about a school boy both wishing he could have the life of the paragon that is one of his class mates, and kind of crushing on him. It really shows Ray Davies at his wry best as a lyricist, as well as being a driving monster of a song musically. "Two Sisters" is a beautiful chamber pop number about a married woman resenting her single sister for the carefree life she leads, only to find meaning and purpose in the faces of her children, ultimately deciding that she's better off. And "Waterloo Sunset" is just jaw dropping, a wonderful song about finding beauty in the grimy world around you, of coming to terms with loneliness, about the way we create stories for the people we observe, and the redemptive power of love, all set to some of the prettiest music ever recorded.
Obviously you can see from those descriptions that this is no ordinary pop album. Plenty of bands had done little character studies and vignettes at this point, but Something Else... leans into these sorts of stories with a dedication and skill pretty much unmatched in 1967. I mean, there's a rock song ("Situation Vacant") about a man being driven to ruin by his demanding mother-in-law, who's ultimately revealed to be trying to steal her daughter back for herself. There's a song about an ageing player who, thoroughly conservative and uptight, has lost touch with modern society and laments that he can't make it with women anymore now that Labour's in ("End of the Season"). "Harry Rag" is a music hall paean to the cigarette, listing a variety of bizarre characters who all "curse themselves for the lives they've led, roll themselves a harry rag and put themselves to bed". "Afternoon Tea" is a celebration of the quintessential British ritual in which the narrator invites his desired to share a cuppa with him.
The rest of the songs aren't quite as good, but there isn't a bad number on the album. Probably the weakest track is the rocker "Love Me Till the Sun Shines", written by guitarist Dave Davies. But then again, Dave also contributes the surreal, hilarious sing-along "Death of a Clown", and the delightful "Funny Face", so I guess he can be forgiven.
Musically, this album is also very strange, ranging from music hall to chamber pop to psychedelic rock. There's a bossa nova song, for some reason. "Two Sisters" is powered by a harpsichord, and features strings. "Lazy Old Sun" is a deeply peculiar song in which Ray Davies chastises the Sun for not doing its job properly, all set to a rather queasy sort of psych-folk sound. "Waterloo Sunset" is anchored by a series of distinctive descending guitar riffs, a fleshed-out with slightly tongue-in-cheek "sha-la-la" backing vocals and some genuinely pretty harmonies reminiscent of the Beach Boys. Really, there's such a variety of styles that it shouldn't really hold together (which could explain its poor chart performance despite the success of the singles), but that eclecticism is really the album's chief virtue. Something Else... has such a wide range of styles, all executed very well, that it's tremendous value for money.
There's also a sort of unity of theme, I suppose. The songs on this album all deal, in one way or another, with the ordinary people leading lives of quiet desperation. The Davies brothers thankfully possess a wry sense of humour that stops these songs from becoming oppressive. The pathetic figures at the heart of "Tin Soldier Man" and "End of the Season" may be contemptible, but they also make sense as real people, and that attention to character elevates what might otherwise just be lame piss takes into excellent pieces of satire. I wouldn't call this a concept album, but the songs do hang together thematically despite the sonic variety.
To be honest, though, I like albums that are all over the place. There's nothing more annoying than buying an album because you like one of the songs, and discovering that every piece on it is just a shitty variation on the same theme.
Anyway, I've ranted long enough. I don't have much more to say about this. A rambling, confused review for a rambling, confused album.
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