Folly (LP)

The Kitchens Of Distinction return with a brand new studio album, Folly, their fifth album and the first for 19 years. In Summer 2011 Patrick Fitzgerald asked Julian Swales whether he would like to work on some new songs together. With the constraints of distance, day jobs and family duties taken into account, things slowly started to come together. Dan Goodwin was invited to join in the fun and eventually ten songs loomed out of the mist. Ten new songs that sound not as a pastiche of a band 20 years on but, as Julian puts it, are “like a new version sucked through time and space.” The songs were recorded in Patrick’s studio in Derbyshire and at Julian’s studio in Brighton. The songs were mixed with Pascal Gabriel (Kylie, Goldfrapp, Inspiral Carpets, Ladyhawke) in April 2013. Kitchens of Distinction were formed in London in 1986 and started and ended their career with a Single of the Week in the UK music press. In between they put out four albums and won the hearts and minds of a generation. Hit singles generally eluded them (the band’s third single “The 3rd Time We Opened The Capsule” did however make it into the ‘NME Writers 100 Best Indie Singles Ever’ list in 1992) but they fared better in the US with “Drive That Fast” hitting number one on the college radio charts over there. A compact trio comprising of Patrick Fitzgerald (Vocals, Bass), Julian Swales (Guitars) and Dan Goodwin (Drums, Percussion) they were known for their swirling maelstrom of guitar effects – coined in the press as like being a ‘sonic cathedral’ – and Patrick’s intros­pective and unabashed lyrics that often dealt with his own homosexuality. They were tagged with the genre ‘shoegaze’ (UK) and ‘dreampop’ (US) although, like many of their peers similarly defined, they never felt comfortable with either term. Their sound was inspired largely by their love of Joy Division, Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Echo and the Bunnymen and peers A R Kane and it went on to be heard in a new generation of bands like Interpol, Bloc Party, Editors and British Sea Power. Review: Throughout the ‘90's, London-based college rock/shoegaze trio Kitchens of Distinction made four full-length albums, rallying a large cult following but mostly existing in the shadows of other like-minded, more successful bands. Drawing on the ethereal dreaminess of the early 4AD catalog and both the melodrama and pop flair of goth-tinged indie acts like Echo & the Bunnymen or Siouxsie and the Banshees, KoD created a sound marked by tightly wound rhythms, swirling processed guitar, and singer/bassist Patrick Fitzgerald's e­motionally naked lyrics. The band officially called it a day in 1996, fizzling out more than imploding, and leaving behind an obscure catalog of work whose sounds would be reflected years later by indie acts like British Sea Power or Interpol. Folly, the band's first record in 19 years, appeared with as little pomp as when they'd disappeared so many years before. The ten tracks here formed slowly over the course of a two-year writing and recording period at Fitzgerald's home studio. Though all the members of the band had stayed active in some form of music, the collaborative element of the three original bandmembers in a reunited form allows for their sound to pick up almost exactly where it left off, channeling all the wistful energy of their early-’ 90s days. This is especially apparent on the album's more melodic tunes that lean on a nostalgia for the 120 Minutes era of independent music. “Japan to Jupiter” coasts on a gloriously ‘90's chord progression that calls to mind Suede's melancholic glamminess or even solo work by Morrissey immediately following the Smiths’ disbandment. Likewise, the upbeat “I Wish It Would Snow” matches guitarist Julian Swales' heavily processed guitar tones with the wintery catchiness of the Psychedelic Furs, A.R. Kane, or the Church, re-creating the hazy early-'90s feelings of the times when KoD were last making records. Of course, the bandmembers aren't bright-eyed college kids anymore, and there's an updated subtlety to much of the material. The patient album-opener “Oak Tree” or the eerie, dissonant “No Longer Elastic” look at memory, personal history, and the aging process with a slow, thoughtful approach, creating space for the more immediately catchy songs. For a band not to change much in almost 20 years is a welcome thing in the case of Folly. Instead of a needless reunion, these songs present the return of a quietly influential and always ahead-of-their-time band, back to do what made them valuable in the first place. There's an element of nostalgia for times that are long gone, but with songs this strong, it almost feels like a necessary self-referencing for anyone who missed the band the first time around. Fred Thomas, AllMusic.com Track Listing: Side A: Oak Tree Extravagance Disappeared Photographing Rain Japan To Jupiter Wolves/Crowes No Longer Elastic I Wish It Would Snow Tiny Moments, Tiny Omens Today Is The Most Beautiful Day