Dr. Barnes: Are The Village Green Reinterpretation Society (2020)

Been taking a break this week, putzing around, capitalizing on life just slowly emerging from pandemic lockdown. Doesn't mean I haven't been killing time checking out new music, of course. I still go down those Bandcamp rabbit holes, checking out some band, following links, and next thing you know I've found a dozen records I just need to own.

I'm a big fan of Futureman Records, a label specializing in indie power pop bands, and stumbled across this humble little gem. Now, the last thing the world needs is more Kinks covers... lord knows there are more than enough. Still, I couldn't just ignore a tribute to my favorite Kinks album, and one of the greatest albums of all time.

Dr. Barnes, far as a I can tell, are just a quick one-off featuring some Futureman artists. But for a novelty project, they do a bang-up job. While the Kinks are one of the bands most responsible for creating the power pop genre, Village Green Preservation Society is a relatively laid-back, stripped down record. For this tribute, these guys inject it with some power pop punch, leaving the songs largely intact but with the chiming guitars and whiz-bang energy one would hope for.

Is it essential? Of course not. But damn fun. You can listen to it (and download it for free!) at Bandcamp.

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