Kitchens of Distinction - The Death of Cool (The Mock Remaster)

A thing of beauty... This is the lost classic of the shoegaze era. If any shoegaze album was, and is still, criminally ignored; this is the worst offender. There are several reasons for this, but I postulate that homophobia was chief among them. Take an already obscure genre and throw in an openly gay singer... They just weren't destined to be widely loved.

It's a shame, really. There is so much to love here. Julian Swales' guitar is the underrated gem of this masterpiece. Most shoegaze bands are unfairly compared to My Bloody Valentine, as though they were the standard for shoegaze. This is, of course, completely untrue. The Simpsons didn't write every joke, The Beatles didn't write every song, and MBV didn't influence every shoegaze band.

If you talk to Patrick Fitzgerald, he insists that 'The Death of Cool' was a step in the wrong direction for the band. He insists that it is too similar to their previous album 'Strange Free World' and that they should have gone with a different producer.

That, honestly, breaks my heart, as I don't know where I'd be without this record. I have had to buy the CD several times over as it has been dragged around from player to car to friend's house; lost, found, scratched, rebought... It is almost surely wherever I am, also.

The lyrics are fantastic. KOD's game was operating on a higher plane to their contemporaries. While MBV and Ride were concentrating on their music and forgoing actual lyrics (Rumour has it, MBV actually spent considerable time on lyrics. They remain less than stellar, so I'm not sure if that was time well spent.), KOD spent their time and energy perfecting both. You wouldn't hear such poetically brilliant lines with real world consequences in other albums like "You're breathing this fear just once a year; we suffocate everyday.", "Animal nuzzles up to my shoulder sweats and grunts and pushes me over with its musty mane in my eyes. I'm closed off and protected." or the genius comparisons of burning an old love's belongings with exclamations of "Burn, burn it all!", "Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!" and declaring the effigy in honour of "John of Arc". These are the words of a band that worked harder on every aspect of it's craft.

It deserves better recognition.

So, here it is... The mock remaster.

I gave this release a little bump along with its associated b-sides. I just opened it up a bit to bring out the sparkliness of the guitars and showcase the busy vocal production. I do hope you enjoy.

Please leave comments and suggestions about what you would fix about this recording.

01 What Happens Now? (Remastered)
02 4 Men (Remastered)
03 On Tooting Broadway Station (Remastered)
04 Breathing Fear (Remastered)
05 Gone World Gone (Remastered)
06 When In Heaven (Remastered)
07 Mad As Snow (Remastered)
08 Smiling (Remastered)
09 Blue Pedal (Remastered)
10 Can't Trust The Waves (Remastered)
11 Skin (Remastered)
12 Air Shifting (Remastered)
13 Goodbye Voyager (Remastered)
14 Don't Come Back (Remastered)
15 Glittery Dust (Remastered)
16 Spacedolphins (Remastered)