Kitchens of Distinction

Kitchens of Distinction
L to R, Dan Goodwin, Patrick Fitzgerald, Julian Swales (1992)
Background information
Origin	Tooting, England
Genres	Alternative rock, dream pop, shoegazing, neo-psychedelia
Years active	1986–96, 2012–present
Labels	One Little Indian, A&M, Fierce Panda, 3 Loop Music
Associated acts	Kitchens O.D., Lost Girls, Fruit, Stephen Hero
Website	Facebook page
Members	Patrick Fitzgerald Julian Swales Dan Goodwin

Kitchens of Distinction (sometimes shortened colloquially to KOD) are an English three-person alternative rock band formed in Tooting, South London in 1986. They released four studio albums and a handful of singles and EPs before disbanding in 1996. In September 2012, Patrick Fitzgerald announced on his Stephen Hero Facebook page that he, along with original members Julian Swales and Dan Goodwin, were working on new material as Kitchens of Distinction. The reunited trio released their fifth studio album, their first since 1994, in late September 2013.

Dan Goodwin (drums) met Julian Swales (guitar) at college in 1980, and Swales met Patrick Fitzgerald (vocals/bass guitar) at a party in 1985. The trio began rehearsing together that same year, taking their name from a company of the same name that specialised in home decor and kitchen and plumbing fixtures, after Swales spotted one of their advertisements on the side of a bus while riding his bike. The Kitchens' first single, "The Last Gasp Death Shuffle" (which featured Swales on lead vocals and bass, as well as guitar, was recorded in just one day on an eight-track in a Kennington basement, and was released in December 1987 on the band's own Gold Rush Records. It was named a single of the week in the NME, and led to the band signing with the British indie label One Little Indian Records; it was around this time that Fitzgerald, a medical doctor, put his career on hold to devote himself fully to the band. Their first singles for One Little Indian, 1988's "Prize" and 1989's "The 3rd Time We Opened the Capsule", made it onto the "NME Writers' 100 Best Indie Singles Ever" list, published 25 July 1992.

Their first full-length album, Love Is Hell, was released in April 1989. Fitzgerald's impassioned, wordy, often bluntly personal vocals careened over what sounded like a mass of swirling guitars, though the band only had one guitarist. Swales' chiming, effects-laden style of playing drew him comparisons to the guitarists of The Chameleons, Cocteau Twins, and A.R. Kane. KOD's melodic yet abstract sound was a precursor to the shoegazing scene of the late 1980s/early 1990s.