signed with A&M Records

The group signed with A&M Records in the US in 1990, and went into the studio with producer Hugh Jones . Their second album Strange Free World was released in February 1991, and spawned some moderately successful A-sides 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 recently died, and whose influential album titled The Birth of the Cool had been released 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 label-mate Suzanne Vega . In retrospect, Swales said that the tour was a “complete waste of time and a disaster from start to finish” because of the mismatch between Vega’s soft rock stylings and Kitchens of Distinction’s loudness.