The Kinks’ career post-Muswell Hillbillies has long been up for debate. Where their previous work is considered unanimously to be their best work, their later work has its ardent defenders and detractors. 1975’s Schoolboys In Disgrace suffers mostly for coming out in the mid-‘70s when interest in the Kinks was in a lull. The band had felt underused on Soap Opera, so Dave Davies and Mick Avory insisted on being more involved. This tight group sound creates genuine firepower with “Schooldays” and a ‘50s nostalgia with the piano-pumping “Jack the Idiot Dunce.” The loose concept of “coming of age” is secondary to the keyboard-guitar wars taking place through “Education” and the beautiful doo-wop inspired “The First Time We Fall In Love,” where they approximate the Beach Boys and arena rock in one four-minute sweep. In spots, Ray Davies, with his wry detachment, sounds like Randy Newman. But the perfectly executed hard rock of “The Hard Way” (later, remarkably covered by the Knack), and “I’m In Disgrace” make a solid case for this album as an underrated gem.