It's pretty easy to point towards the handful of instrumentals and see an album that, in comparison to pretty much every other Kinks album before, there isn't a whole lot to it. Now, of course, that is an issue from circumstance - this is a soundtrack album, after all, and these were notoriously rough at the time. You can look back at the 70s and 60s with all the rose-tinted glasses you want and proclaim that "modern music sucks," but do it with the slightest bit of nuance and at least acknowledge that not every soundtrack record was Superfly. The Kinks present a few fun instrumentals, but many of them are too short or uninteresting to warrant any further listening after you've sat down and heard this - a retread of "Lola" is fun enough but gives no reason to listen to it over the iconic original, and other moments like "Helga" or the album's reprise of "God's Children" are really just too short to justify being here. Admittedly, my enjoyment of the 1-minute "Running Round Town" does contrast this a bit, but I also think this has far more substance than the previously mentioned moments, and the blues jam on "Completely" at least has the most to potentially offer, although I'd probably reach for "Hideaway" off the Bluesbreakers album if I wanted a killer blues instrumental.
Even the songs with lyrics leave a bit to be desired on this album. Now I'm sure part of that has to do with the whole "soundtrack" label on the tin, but some moments lean into a really stupid or overly bizarre territory that makes it not a whole lot of fun to listen to - take "Just Friends" as prime example of this seeming lack of maturity. It's not a lack of maturity, though, because this is the same album with "God's Children," which is a genuinely great song about stripping away the excess of humanity in order to find some purity - like a more cerebral take on the sarcastic wit of previous albums like Arthur or Village Green. It's the album standout by a wide margin, although some other moments capture a similar Kinks magic - "Dreams" and "Animals In the Zoo" are worthy of being great Lola leftovers, as is "Way Love Used to Be." Generally, these moments are where you'll get your money's worth, and this is now the part where I mention that if you're a physical collector, an EP was released in the UK with "God's Children," "Way Love Used to Be," "Dreams," and the somewhat-underwhelming "Moments," and I'd say you'd be getting your money's worth far more with the purchase of that EP.
The Kinks were putting the final gems in their crown of the golden age, and ultimately Percy sits as an outlier, quite possibly in their own discography as well. While the material presented isn't necessarily offensive (or even worse than on their debut, for that matter), the substance from this album can really be obtained from an EP rather than the entire 13-track release here. Again, though, this is the curse of the soundtrack album of the time, and this isn't the worst of the soundtrack syndrome that I've heard, nor is it even the most unnecessary. Still, Percy sits a bit like a bread basket in between two killer entrees, and it's hard not to be disappointed.
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Percy.
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