Thanks to Radiohead's Greenwood brothers paying respects to their unique take on guitar-driven rock music, Kitchens Of Distinction may at last receive the recognition they deserve. Arguably more famous during their time for their homo-erotic lyrics and cover art; their music often took a back seat in the media's eyes. The sad truth is they made some of the most beautiful, emotionally-charged music of modern times. Early releases such as the 'Elephantine' EP demonstrated their melodic intent but despite excellent reviews they never quite achieved to reach beyond a cult following. Their sound was original but could be best compared to A R Kane's dub-heavy atmospherics tacked onto the dreamy soundscapes pioneered by The Cocteau Twins.

Now seemingly disillusioned by the unrelenting apathy of the music-buying public, "The Kitchens".. soldiered on and released their most commercial effort yet in the form of 1994's 'Cowboys And Aliens'.At a time when Britpop was at its peak the group could have been accused of selling out as this colection strings together one anthemic track after another. Thankfully their formula of tender strumming slowly building up into a loud chorus accompanied by trademark guitar pyrotechnics still had a lot of mileage, showcased to best effect on 'Thought He Had Everything', 'Here Come The Swans' and 'One Of These Sometimes Is Now'. The mood is surprisingly uplifting for a final album; the properly-played guitar on 'Get Over Yourself' is a departure from their usual template but its melody is gorgeous. Excursions into grunge on 'Sand On Fire' and the title track also reap rewards. Admittedly on some efforts the choruses don't reach any great heights; over-production and the addition of female backing vocals are unnecessary populist touches, but overall this is a fine way to end a great legacy of music.