Over the course of their career, the band has released five studio albums - "Love is Hell" (1989), "Strange Free World" (1991), "The Death of Cool" (1992), "Cowboys and Aliens" (1994), and "Folly" (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.
Despite the promising start, the band faced a subdued reception from the mainstream music industry, generally due to their lyrical content. For instance, "Margaret's Injection", on the 1989 Elephantine EP, was a fantasy about killing then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Also, Fitzgerald was openly gay, and his lyrics were unapologetic, especially on tracks like "Prize" and "Within the Daze of Passion". Even the more indie-focused television programs like Snub TV and Rapido failed to give them much coverage, although Snub TV played the video for their 1991 single "Drive That Fast". Likewise, they were not offered a John Peel radio session, although they eventually did get one after asking Peel personally, following a Glastonbury performance which he appreciated.
Kitchens of Distinction sometimes performed "secret" gigs under the alter ego Toilets of Destruction.[2][6] An example was at The Bull & Gate in Kentish Town on 6 August 1990, where the band appeared in drag and played ABBA, David Bowie, and Bauhaus covers.
In 1990, they signed with A&M Records in the US, and went into the studio with producer Hugh Jones (Simple Minds, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Undertones). Their second album, Strange Free World, was released in February 1991, and spawned some moderately successful singles in "Drive That Fast" and "Quick as Rainbows", both of which were very well received by college radio in the US. The band went back into the studio in 1992, again with Jones at the helm, and their third album The Death of Cool came out in August that year; it was named in honour of the passing of Miles Davis, who had released an influential album titled The Birth of the Cool in 1950. A&M balked at the band's choice of "Breathing Fear" for the first single, due to its touchy subject matter (gay bashing), so "Smiling" became the album's initial single in the US. The band toured extensively, including a high-profile slot opening for their US labelmate Suzanne Vega, whose album 99.9F° came out within a few weeks of theirs.
Later in 1993, KOD began work on their fourth album, co-producing it themselves with engineer Pete Bartlett. One Little Indian rejected the album twice, and eventually, both label and band agreed to bring in up-and-coming producer Pascal Gabriel to work on a couple of tracks. One of the label's complaints about the album as the band originally submitted it was that they felt it lacked a potential hit single, so Gabriel produced a new song ("Come on Now") that the band had written after the rest of the album had already been recorded; Gabriel also remixed two of the album's other tracks (the opener "Sand on Fire" and first single "Now It's Time to Say Goodbye"). The resulting album, Cowboys and Aliens, was released in the UK in October 1994, and although the band admitted that they enjoyed working with Gabriel, the changes did nothing to help the album's dismal sales. When the album saw its US release in early 1995, it was largely ignored by the same alternative rock radio and media that had championed them just a few years before. By the end of 1995, both A&M and OLI had dropped the band.
Shortening their name to Kitchens O.D. and signing to the London-based indie label Fierce Panda Records, they issued a single, "Feel My Genie" in May 1996, which was named "Single of the Week" by Melody Maker, but they officially disbanded that summer after a farewell gig at London's Kings Cross.
In September 2012, Fitzgerald announced that he and Swales had recorded and were in the process of editing ten new songs. The reunited trio of Fitzgerald, Swales, and Goodwin released their fifth studio album Folly, their first new album in 19 years, on 30 September 2013
Pierced
Kitchens of Distinction Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And her tattooed back
Of a black black dancing sun
The night blazed away
As we swam and stared
At the stars that decorate the sky
We owned for just one night
Tequila tequila glad to meet you
Who cares where we'll be
Hours from now, years on from now
She pierced herself with a wedding ring
We laugh too hard at old photographs
Of when we tripped and when we span
Her husband offered cocaine
She needs more than he can give
Her eyes still glisten when she
Gives her young cry
"I want to die really really living"
Me? I'm fine
I'm sensitized
I opened my eyes.
The lyrics of Kitchens Of Distinction's song Pierced are dark and confrontational. The first stanza presents a vivid picture of a woman who has found a way to deal with pain and sorrow by self-harming. The silver ring has pierced through her flesh, leaving a permanent reminder of her suffering. The tattoo on her back depicts a black sun, symbolizing a sense of emptiness and despair. The metaphorical night "blazes away", suggesting that her struggle with mental health is ongoing and intense. However, for one brief moment, she finds solace in the company of the singer. They swim together, they stare at the stars, and they feel lucky to be alive.
The second stanza introduces a new character - the woman's husband. He seems indifferent to her pain and offers her cocaine as a way to numb her feelings. She realizes that he can't give her what she needs, and she expresses her desire to die "really, really living". The singer, on the other hand, claims to be "fine" but also "sensitized". Perhaps he has also struggled with mental health issues, or perhaps he simply feels empathy for the woman's plight. Either way, he has "opened his eyes" and acknowledged the reality of her situation.
Overall, Pierced paints a bleak but honest portrait of human suffering. It highlights the need for compassion and understanding in the face of mental illness and addiction. The singer and the woman are united by their shared pain, and they find brief respite in each other's company.
Line by Line Meaning
She pierced herself with a silver ring
She intentionally punctured her own skin with a piece of silver jewelry
And her tattooed back
In addition to piercing, she has an image etched permanently onto her skin on her back
Of a black black dancing sun
The tattoo on her back depicts a dark, gyrating sun
The night blazed away
The darkness of the night was consumed by some kind of fiery or intense experience
As we swam and stared
While we were immersed in water and gazed at something with wide-eyed focus
At the stars that decorate the sky
We fixated our attention on the celestial bodies that embellish the firmament
We owned for just one night
We had temporary possession or control over this evening and its experiences
Feeling luck pour down our thirsty open throats
We experienced a sensation of fortune or opportunity flowing into our bodies through our parched, exposed neck passageways
Tequila tequila glad to meet you
We were pleased to make the acquaintance of the spirit tequila, which presumably we drank
Who cares where we'll be
We were not concerned with our future destinations or circumstances
Hours from now, years on from now
For both short and long periods of time after this moment
She pierced herself with a wedding ring
She impaled herself using the symbol of her marital union and commitment
We laughed too hard at old photographs
We experienced intense amusement or mirth while perusing aging images of ourselves
Of when we tripped and when we span
These photos captured humorous moments when we lost our balance or rotated quickly
Her husband offered cocaine
The spouse of the woman who pierced herself presented us with the drug cocaine
She needs more than he can give
The piercing, tattooed woman recognizes that her partner cannot provide her with the fulfillment or satisfaction she desires
Her eyes still glisten when she
Despite her dissatisfaction, she still displays a sparkling shine in her gaze
Gives her young cry
She emits an exclamation or outcry that carries a youthful, impassioned fervor
"I want to die really really living"
The woman expresses a desire to meet her end in a state of truly vibrant and meaningful existence
Me? I'm fine
The artist is doing well, or at least states as much
I'm sensitized
The artist has become more aware and reactive to their environment or experiences
I opened my eyes.
At some point, the artist had their eyes closed or was ignorant to certain facts, but they now have revealed the truth to themselves
Contributed by Asher C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.