Low Budget

by

The Kinks

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As Rod Stewart slapped on the tight pants and asked his fans if they thought he was sexy, The Kinks strapped on the same old guitars and once again demonstrated their understanding for the daily anxieties of the common man. "Gas bills, rent bills, tax bills, phone bills," Ray Davies sings on the tenacious "Superman," one of the many highlights of his songwriting career, "there's got to be something better than this." Indeed there was, and it was this album: an engaging mixture of the opposing musical poles that contended with one another at the time (disco and punk). It often surprises me to read characterizations of this album as yet another "come back" for The Kinks who, by 1979, had come a long way from the days of Apemen and Preservation Societies. Released on the heels of phenomenal rock albums like "Misfits" and "Sleepwalker," The Kinks hardly had anything to "come back" from at this point in their career. They were already there, and I do not see how any informed fan of classic rock could suggest otherwise. "Low Budget" was the beginning of an obvious yet tactful attempt to connect with the cultural context in which it was recorded: oil embargoes, disco, terrorism, punk rock, inflation ("gas strike, oil strike, lorry strike, bread strike"). It is a real testament to this band's integrity that they were able to make music that was timely both in sound and message without sacrificing their songwriting or rock 'n roll roots. The immediately catchy "Superman" nods to disco while never straying so far from the things that connected The Kinks to such a vast audience: the vividness and compassion of Ray's lullabies to the ordinary world, the guttural peels of Dave's guitar, the way they captured the the entirety of rock 'n roll's essence and necessity within a song of just two or three minutes in length. "Superman" would be the album's only overt nod to disco (though not nearly as "overt" as the embarrassing "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"). The title track, "Attitude," "Misery" and "Pressure" all echo that distinctive crunch and clamor The Kinks pioneered 15 years prior, while "A Gallon of Gas" is a surprisingly stripped-down tribute to the blues: both the blues of their roots and the blues of the time. Records this honest were not exactly made in abundance in the days of Leif Garret and "Midnight Cowboy," and with the current generation of bubble gum passed off as rock 'n roll and celebrity-saturated TV News, "Low Budget's" relevance endures.

In 1979, when this album was originally released, The Kinks were my unquestioned number one favourite band. A few years earlier I had been fortunate to meet Mick Avory and John Gosling in the Marquee club, and I had a very interesting talk with John Gosling about "Schoolboys in Disgrace", which he thought was their best album so far.

The musical trends had changed quite dramatically during the last two years, so I was very pleased with the Kinks being able to follows these new punk/new-wave trends and adapt to them. In the beginning I loved this new album, "Low Budget"; especially the cool rocker"Attitude" and the lovely ballad "A Little Bit of Emotion".

Now, seen in retrospect, my feelings towards this album have changed, and I regard it as one of the weakest Kinks albums. For a Kinks album the number of real good songs is small, and the overall sound is monotonous and pretty dull.

Of course there are positive moments, and new favourites have come up. There is a lot of charm and humour in the single "Superman" and "Moving Pictures" flows pleasantly, sounding like an outtake from an earlier album.

The title track was a live-favourite for many years, but on a studio album it doesn't really work, and it's more or less a drag.

Conclusion: One of the few Kinks albums that has not aged very well.