ristarinsinamärken

Kitchens of distinction, Love is hell. Året är 1989: och jag älskade, nästan avgudade allt med den här skivan (och den efterföljande EP:n Elephantine). Fitzgeralds röst, de svävande, bitvis intensiva gitarrerna, texterna. För att inte tala om omslaget som var helt fantastiskt kitchigt och snyggt! Och jag lyssnade och lyssnade, om och om igen. Do I get a prize, do I get a prize/ For remembering that first time... Det är en hjärtskärande vacker låt. Som tidiga New Order i en mer uppdaterad 90-talstappning. Och så den smärtsamma Her last day in bed: Oh darling you promised to talk to me even after today... Flera av spåren låter lite som ett 90-talets "shoegazing"-svar på the Smiths. Eller New Order. Tänker bl a på den politiskt bitska Margaret´s Injection som finns med på EP:n Elephantine; den är fantastisk. I´m not in the habit of hurting a person... Margaret, it´s time for your injection... She dies unloved... I wish I missed you more/ I wish I hurt you more/ I wish I killed you more... Det här var - och är bitvis fortfarande - min lilla skatt; min lilla blossande, glittrande, pulserande diamant som jag vänder i handen, gnuggar på, speglar mig i...

Review: The Kitchens of Distinction's early comparisons ran the gamut from Echo and the Bunnymen and the Chameleons to older fret-benders like Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix. What the comparisons were all aiming to describe was the band's secret weapon -- Swales' awesome abilities on guitar, which created tenderness and overdriven power. On Love Is Hell, the band's debut, the Kitchens sound like they're feeling their way around a studio, with rougher, punkier edges on some numbers (notably the thrashy rant against the workday grind, "Mainly Mornings"). More impressive still is how well Fitzgerald's thoughtful, passionate lyrics and singing match Swales' work in so many different ways throughout the record -- tenderly evocative on "In a Cave," increasingly agitated during the bitter "Prize," and downright soaring on "The 3rd Time We Opened the Capsule." This last song has a perfect Kitchens moment, with a rushing, joyful guitar break followed by Fitzgerald's forceful delivery of "I want the light to shine/Right in my eyes!" "Her Last Day in Bed" starkly visits a deathbed scene with a sheer, frightening feel heightened by violin, while the climactic "Hammer" views a pick-up gone terribly wrong with increasingly distraught lyrics and music. Intelligent, intricate, and unafraid to rock and caress equally, Love Is Hell is an incredible first effort. Later editions of the record add the Elephantine EP (including the biological/political ruminating title track), a delicious death-to-Thatcher fantasy titled "Margaret's Injection," and the bittersweet end-of-a-relationship portrayal "1001st Fault." ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide


Provlyssna på låtar från Love is hell/ Elephantine (obs! låten Margaret´s injection bättre här.)

Lyssna också på tredje albumet Strange New World!