release date: Apr. 1989
format: vinyl (tplp9) / cd (TPLP9CD)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,46]
producer: Kitchens of Distinction
label: One Little Indian - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist of the original cd: 1. "In a Cave" (4 / 5) - 2. "Time to Groan" (4 / 5) - 3. "Shiver" - 4. "Prize" (5 / 5) - 5. "The 3rd Time We Opened the Capsule" (4 / 5) - 6. "Her Last Day in Bed" - 7. "Courage, Mother" (5 / 5) - 8. "Mainly Mornings" (5 / 5) - 9. "Hammer" (5 / 5)
Studio album debut by London-founded trio Kitchens of Distinction consisting of songwriter, lead vocalist and bassist Patrick Fitzgerald, guitarist Julian Swales, and drummer Dan Goodwin is a most fascinating debut, and I have had my difficulties in selecting the above rating. Yes, I put Pixies in the first spot on my year-end list but that's really only because I chose to define my favourite albums for each year, and frankly, these three are all major albums that I simply love and wouldn't miss! Also, no. 1 on the list is Pixies' best ever studio album, and the other two are not THE very best by either of the two other artists, so that sort of made it simple(r).
I purchased this album on cd in England in late '89 while temporarily working at a hotel in Banbury, England (The Whately Hall Hotel) - an easy and economy-based way to experience another country). So, I guess it must have been about 7-8 months after the release. I hadn't come across one single track from the album but just found myself searching for interesting music at a small local music store. The cover immediately caught my attention and just signalled 'interesting indie' - so it really matters what type of expression the package comes in. After listening to the first 20-37 seconds, up to the point when lead vocalist Patrick Fitzgerald goes "..and it's miiiii-i-iiine" in that highly original phrasing accompanied by Julian Swales' brilliantly distorted delayed 'flanger' guitar sound that is so much KOD and absolutely like no other artists, I knew instantly, I had to own this album. Much later into the new Millenium I then acquired the album on vinyl.
It's simple, rough and soft [not in the Pixies quiet and LOUD complementary style], it's dynamic, intense, sophisticated, and dreamy, and still solidly coherent. It's post-punk when most beautiful, and it's shoegaze in its prime. Listen to the appraised Interpol and you know they'd be nothing without Kitchens of Distinction.
Needles say, this is highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
1989 Favourite releases: 1. Pixies Doolittle - 2. The Blue Nile Hats - 3. Kitchens of Distinction Love Is Hell
