I am now embarrassed to admit this, but I was really, really late to appreciating the Kinks. Other than their hits from the ‘60s, the band meant little to me for most of my life and I owned exactly none of their albums.

The truth is that nobody else I knew at the time listened to the Kinks either. My first real experience with the band came from FM radio in the late ‘70s, when, rather oddly, the Kinks were a topical band discussing the state of things from a distinctly American perspective. It was as if this ‘60s British invasion band suddenly transformed itself into a ‘70s amalgam of American populism. Disco? The gas crisis? America’s “crisis of confidence”? I now understand that “Low Budget” is probably the most UN-Kinks-like album the band ever produced, but in the late ‘70s, this album defined my understanding of the band.

Thank goodness I have done my homework since then (and if you’re listening, so have you), but this album still stands as an unusual timepiece from an era that otherwise might be best forgotten.

Featured tracks include;

Attitude

Catch Me Now I’m Falling

Pressure

National Health

(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman

Low Budget

In a Space

Little Bit of Emotion

A Gallon of Gas

Misery

Moving Pictures

Prince of the Punks

Father Christmas