Kitchens of Distinction
The Death of Cool (A&M) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)1/2
This London trio`s songcraft, with its passionately gay subtext, is lifted toward some celestial plain by the echo-drenched guitar of Julian Swales, whose hurricane swirl is somehow comforting and enveloping, at times majestic. Singer-bassist Patrick Fitzgerald puts desire and disappointment on a collision course, and spends verse after verse picking up the pieces, an everyman voice transformed into a cry from the soul. The first half of this CD is essential listening, especially a remake of the staggering single ”4 Men,” the shimmering, 8-minute nocturne ”Gone World Gone” and the soaring
”On Tooting Broadway Station.” The ideas thin out a bit in the second half, but that hardly dilutes the impact of ”The Death of Cool,” a near-masterpiece of yearning.
Ratings:
Excellent (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)
Good (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)
Fair (STAR)(STAR)
Poor (STAR)
