Attitude Low Budget announces its presence, and it's immediately apparent that this isn't going to be Misfits Part II. Dave gets right at it with one of his most propulsive opening riffs (I hear echoes of ZZ Top's "Tush"), and Ray hurtles in at full scream mode. The song settles down a little after that -- just a little -- and proceeds to fire off a torrent of in-your-face admonitions about getting one's act together and keeping up with the times. This is, in many ways, another state-of-the-band offering. As much as I like the sound of this track -- it's the topic sentence of the album, after all -- I find "Attitude" to fall short in the compositional department. It's got some aridly tuneless stretches (especially the opening bit where shouty Ray is more like barky Ray), and I don't think it really gels all that much as a song. It's a bit scattershot -- it reminds me of Dave's Decade cuts. There are a couple more songs to come in this punky style that work better. But Dave's playing is sharp, Mick's drumming is assertive, and the band pulls off a tricky stop-and-start chorus (even if it is similar to "Who Are You"). I also kind of like the synths towards the end, and the harmonies in the bridge are top-notch. "Attitude" is a better statement than it is a song. Fortunately, the album's songs do eventually catch up with the sound, though not right away...
Damn it! I did it again…and of all the songs to make this mistake on! I expect I’ll be hearing about it all day now (put my Bluetooth headphones on, pressed play on ‘Attitude’…and kept turning it up…up..up because it still sounded muffled. And realized I hadn’t turned the damn headphones on. 4:30 a.m. and my wife isn’t going to be pleased. )
Since we all mentioned Who Are You, here's a great Townshend King Biscuit Flower Hour radio interview of 1979, once he got around his initial existential crisis (one of too many!) due to the punk emergence. “I mean Punk was unbelievable. It was absolutely unbelievable (…) What I’m saying really is to actually compare a band like the Who at any stage of their career to what the Punks were doing is impossible, really. Because the Punks were just a really total anarchy, the audience and the bands. It was completely anarchistic, not destructive, just completely outrageously free and of course The Who’s music was never like that.” In this itw, Pete’s setting the record straight with an American journalist trying to flatter him by saying the early Who were "punk"… 1979, hehe, isn’t that exactly where we’re at right now? I’d agree with @Vangro that Attitude (and some later Kinks tunes) would be far off the mark if they were attempts at aping the punk sound. But I don’t think they were and I’ll argue he’s mistaking a few lazy reviews or “wow, the Kinks out-punk punks!” rockists reactions (which are of course bollocks) for Ray’s much more oblique intent with this song. In a 1977 Guardian article, Ray himself is on quote approving of “true punks like the Ramones and Lou Reed…" and dismissing “the bands jumping on to it like bands got on the R&B kick when we first started”. So there… Like its obvious predecessor Prince of the Punks, this song is indeed much closer to pub rock (the drum sound, the backing vocals, the pounding piano) in style, sound, presentation and, er…, attitude.
The other one I am thinking of is not Misery, but when we get to Misery, I will take a closer listen on that one too!
‘Attitude’: I’m enjoying the writing about today’s song much more than than the song itself. Hats off to all of you. I’ll just grab bits and pieces from what’s been written: Punk or not—I put that first verse in the punk camp. Over-the-top, in your face…and I don’t like it. Slur or not—I go with slur (though I know exactly what Mark is talking about when he relates the story about his friend adjusting his manner of speech depending upon the crowd). ‘Who Are You’…hmm, I don’t hear it at all! There is another riff in there, though, that’s well known but I can’t get it to come out if my brain. I know! It just came to me, Grand Funk Railroad’s ‘Closer To Home.’ Beach Boys—yep. After the first verse, it does become recognizably Ray, which I find to be a relief. And I like the piano. Overall, it’s all right because by the end of the song I’ve forgotten about the first verse!
Attitude: A great album opener in my opinion. A fast pumping rocker which, like Victoria and David Watts, “kinks” off the Low Budget festivities with a bang. I like the stripped back sound and the rough production, it sounds like 5 guys in a garage blasting away. Our fearless leader has done such a fine job dissecting this song it doesn’t leave much to say. I agree with him wholeheartedly, this really isn’t an attempt at punk (other than maybe the first verse vocals). Dave and the band sound great, and Ray’s lyrics and vocal delivery are thoughtful and complex for a basic rock song. As others have mentioned, great backing vocals from Dave. It does seem that the early morning risers like this song for the most part. We will have to see how people feel towards it as they come online later in the day. Perhaps the dividing line for loving or hating the low budget album may be based on what time the listener has his 1st cup of coffee. My twin brother-in-law‘s are in town and we all went down to the beach to watch the sunrise. Clearly us early birds get it!
Maybe we could have another thread discussing Low Budget/Punk and Ray's cockney accent. I'm losing the will to live.
Attitude I welcome an uptempo opener, so it’s a nice start. But the lyrics struggle for consistency. Like probably half of the stuff Ray writes from here on out, I feel like it could be improved with one less verse and chorus—as if the more words he adds, either the more he starts cluttering an idea or repeating himself. But Attitude rocks, for sure. As rocking openers go it reminds me of The Contenders from Lola v. P—another one where the track is defined by the performance rather than the merits of the songwriting, a quality that largely defines the arena rock approach in general, IMO. So…better performance than song. That about sums it up best.
I've been hearing too dear since first hearing When I'm 64 without bother to understand this expression. I assume it's specifically British? Can someone explain? I know I could probably just google, but....meh...feeling lazy this morning.
Attitude I was never a devotee of garage rock. Maybe I'd just never heard "bad garage rock" though, because if this is bad garage rock, then count me in! The riffs.... the licks.... the piano.... the backup vocals...... the attitude of this song is fantastic! What a fun way to tell your mate he needs to get over himself and get his **** together! And while the lyrics are anything but subtle, Ray still get in the occasional clever turn of a phrase. This spicy little slap in the face is also a great way to open an album. I say we're off to a fine start here.
Attitude Gets the album off to a good rocking start with a song that has the right "attitude" to convey that this will be a fun, rocking album. Ray is in great voice, the lyrics still can shine, and the band sounds strong and confident. And it gets better from here too!
Quoting myself here........ 0000 You are right though I think the issue may have also been to promote their US tour. No matter if folk here liked the Creem style and wit of their Kinks LP reviews I will dig it out and post the Stones one......or if preferred send it via our headmaster to post at an opportune time, perhaps sunday?
"Attitude" : this song did get plenty of air play on WBCN. It's a great rocking start to Low Budget. It never really seemed "punk" to me, more like stripped down rock or New Wave, which was a "totally different head, totally" according to the late Johnny Slash. The lyrics are pretty good, except for the slight dating of "The 80s are here, I'm staring right at them". It seems that the 80s have somehow sped away . I'm also amused of all this talk about Shouty,Barky, Ray. There's yet another Ray voice coming up the horizon which I never heard before this album.
I just checked setlist.fm to see if they ever played this one in the 90s, but it looks like it seems (appropriately I guess) to have been largely dropped from sets after 1980, except for one sighting in Germany in 1987: The Kinks Tour Statistics | setlist.fm
While I've never considered Attitude novelty or even kwirky (had to type that word three times for my auto correct to not change it) yours is an interesting take I both agree and struggle with. Back in the day I made peace with the Kinks new direction when One For the Road came out and it dawned on me that perhaps the Low Budget/Road arena phase was--like the theatre years--a form of rock and roll performance art, embodying the role of good time/dumbed down rock stars pandering to the back rows with a wink and a nod, that the Kinks were mocking a mode of rock that was otherwise beneath them. I was fine with it. But when Give the People came out I thought....okay...they're stretching it out to three albums...well, whatever. When they ended the disc with "Better Things," and the next new thing after was the "Come Dancing" single released in advance of State of Confusion I thought okay, they're back on track now. Then the album came out and I was: No, wait...they're still doing it? And they never completely went away from it on subsequent albums. So, rather than parody, perhaps Ray was genuine? So ultimately I came down on the side of confusion: Are the Kinks parodying or embracing this new direction? Half their output says yes, half says no. I guess that's okay, but I mourned the loss of the daring band that reinvented itself every so often as they did 1966-1979. But, of course, they found the formula for financial success, so while I know what I like, who am I to criticize the band member's preferences to pay their mortgages.
I guess this is where I am left confused somewhat. The Kinks just made three albums in a row that were all completely different to each other. I understand completely that it may not necessarily be everyone's personal favourite incarnation/manifestation of the band, but much like Something Else, Village Green and Arthur are completely different to each other, and much like Lola, Muswell and Showbiz are completely different to each other, Sleepwalker, Misfits and Low Budget are completely different to each other. I think Give The People What they Want and State Of Confusion seem more to start bringing all of the elements together under one roof.... but I'll need to get myself into their zone before I get too sure about them.
Attitude Was Pete Townsend in NYC for a bit in 1979 and did he stop by the studio to record some backing chorus vocals for this song? Yeah I hear the Who-ish chorus... and perhaps Ray was channeling Roger Daltrey for the opening verse? "Daltrey Ray"? But only for the beginning... then we get some Beach Boys backing vocals again (right around the mention of the 1960s). Nice to have a fast-paced rocker for an opener. Haven't had that in a long time. This is like a David Watts reincarnated in 1979. Note how when they played David Watts live in later shows, they did performed it more like Attitude, right? I like the change in stripped-down tone around 0:40 as it builds back up to the chorus. Mick's back with a fat snare. The claps are a little too fake for me, though. Some synth comes in around the middle bridge, and then again in at the end too. The piano part does sound like something Nicky Hopkins would have added if they did this song in the mid-60s. A fun rock song to get the party started.
