Kitchens of Distinction "The Last Gasp Death Shuffle"

Kitchens of Distinction The Last Gasp Death Shuffle 7" single (Gold Rush Records, 1987)

I've featured Kitchens of Distinction before, but neglected to mention (as it was not relevant to that post) that leader Patrick Fitzgerald is openly gay. I remember when we got their debut LP, Love Is Hell, at my college radio station; there were drawings of naked men on the cover! I was only just in the midst of admitting to myself that I might not be straight, and that was more than I was prepared to handle; I never even listened to it. v_v When their next album, Strange Free World, arrived, however, I did listen, and it took roughly one listen for me to fall in love with it. I often disregard lyrics in music, but Fitzgerald's were far too powerful to miss, and guitarist Julian Swales's, uh, guitar is absolutely enveloping. Today's selection is their debut single, released on the tiny Gold Rush Records imprint. It's rather a bit more post-punk than their later sound, and nowhere near as polished, but it's every bit as insistent.

Kitchens of Distinction "Prince of Mars"

Kitchens of Distinction
Cowboys and Aliens
CD
(One Little Indian, 1994)

So, this one's a bit more conventional than yesterday's, I suppose. Hey, man, I have feelings, you know? Guitarist Julian Swales' solo on this song may be simple, but it's emotionally devastating. It makes me want to grit my teeth, close my eyes, rock back-and-forth, cry, etc.

Sadly, Prince of Mars proved to the the final song on Kitchens of Distinction's final album. They did release a final single, but it was under the name Kitchen O.D. (no, I don't know why). Leader Patrick Fitzgerald went on to record a few singles and an album under the name Fruit. He followed those with a couple of EPs and an album under the name Stephen Hero, then developed a fear of spaces (or the malevolent spirit of James Joyce) and released two albums under the name stephenhero.

No matter the name, everything he's done is genius, imo.

The Dentists "Where's My Chicken, You Bastard?"

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Otherwise, there'd be a cute lil' streaming audio player on the left, rather than this message.

The Dentists
You and Your Bloody Oranges
12" EP
(Spruck Records, 1985)

One of the fun things about doing this blog is finding out new stuff about bands I'm featuring. In this case, I've found that The Dentists have been doing reunion shows! Unfortunately, only on the other side of the Earth, but, still, YES! In addition, there is a collection of rarities and unreleased material, If All The Flies Were One Fly, coming out this month!

Anyhow, this song is from their third release, following their debut single, Strawberries Are Growing in My Garden (and it's Wintertime), and first album, Some People Are on the Pitch They Think It's All Over It Is Now. As you can see, they've got quite the knack for song titles.

In 1992, the US label Homestead Records released a compilation of tracks from 1985 through 1987: Dressed. Tracks from all five of their releases in that time period were included, but no record was represented in its entirety. This is one of the songs to not make the grade, despite having one of the greatest titles both of theirs and of all bands.