
Issue #52 - January/February 2015 - St. VincentThe Kinks
Muswell Hillbillies
Legacy
Jan 08, 2015
Issue #52 - January/February 2015 - St. Vincent
The lofty reputations of two masterful preceding concept albums—1968’s The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society and 1969’s Arthur—have long overshadowed Muswell Hillbillies, originally released to little fanfare in 1971. If Hillbillies’ gifts are modest relative to the sublimely esoteric Village Green or Arthur‘s epic sweep, the record remains a minor classic. It’s both acute exploration of working class London and wildly ironic exercise in genre hopping; sunny ragtime morphs into sly environmental commentary and jaunty New Orleans jazz scores a schizophrenic’s unraveling (though straightforward heartbreaker “Oklahoma U.S.A.” is the true highlight).
A live DVD and bonus cuts, including the awesome “Lavender Lane,” lend added texture to this little world, which was already rich with small-scale tragedies and motley beauty. (www.thekinks.info)
Author rating: 8.5/10
Average reader rating: 10/10
Current Issue

Issue #70
Nov 18, 2022 Issue #70 - My Favorite Movie (Sharon Van Etten and Ezra Furman)
Most Recent
- Death Valley Girls Share Video For New Song “Magic Powers” (News) — Death Valley Girls
- Premiere: Daddy’s Beemer Shares New Single “Heart Attack” (News) — Daddy’s Beemer
- The Tallest Man on Earth Announces New Album, Shares Video for New Song “Every Little Heart” (News) — The Tallest Man on Earth
- Westerman Announces New Album, Shares New Song “CSI: Petralona” (News) — Westerman
- Girl Ray Share Video for New Song “Everybody’s Saying That” (News) — Girl Ray
Comments
Submit your comment
There are no comments for this entry yet.