Please Describe Yourself

Please Describe Yourself Artist: Dogs Die in Hot Cars
Label: V2 Ada
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Format: Enhanced
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 638812720429
EAN: 0638812720429
ASIN: B0002VEOG8


Release Date: 2004-10-26

Please Describe Yourself


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Tracks:

  1. I Love You Cause I Have To
  2. Modern Woman
  3. Celebrity Sanctum
  4. Somewhat Off the Way
  5. Apples & Oranges
  6. Godhopping
  7. Lounger
  8. Paul Newman's Eyes
  9. Pastimes & Lifestyles
  10. Glimpse at the Good Life
  11. Who Shot the Baby?

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Amazon.com

While Interpol claims Joy Division and The Killers take on Duran Duran, this Scottish band seems to delight in digging through the '80s bargain bin for its influences. Sure enough, its debut album sounds like a collision of the most unfashionable players of the era: Dexy's Midnight Runners, Talking Heads, and perhaps most obviously, XTC. The resulting album may sound a little spastic and unfocused but it is also consistently tuneful, with pulse-quickening songs like "I Love You Because I Have To" and "Godhopping" proving particularly addictive. This makes for a fine companion to the self-titled debut by fellow Scots Franz Ferdinand. <I>-- Aidin Vaziri</I>

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Eagerly anticipating their follow-up.......2006-09-15

I confess: I bought this album after hearing "I Love You 'Cause I have to" on NPR because of the funny band name. Well I think it's funny; the majority of the population thinks it's unweildly like a runway model carrying one of those giant hammers from Braveheart (since we're on the topic of Scottish culture). It's a good indicator of the contents and the public's response, however. Their fellow Scottsmen Franz Ferdinan, a much more lyrical name, is palatable both to coffee house intellectuals and frat boys. DDIHC's often spastic delivery and quick thought lyrics would elude most. It eluded me for about a year. I picked this album up last summer and sang along to a few choruses and chuckled not so much at the lyrics, but at the notion that a band that name-drops Catherine Zeta-Jones and Paul Newman probably has funny lyrics, so I should laugh at them. I recently found the cd in my trunk, and now I admire all the deeper production previously un-noticed and the clever lyrics.

For all their pub-chant inducing choruses, DDIHC are as accesible to the public as a 500 LB man's butt crack is to himself, and they don't really feel like reaching because they haven't stretched properly. XTC comparisons are all over the place, too recklessly for it to be intentional (think spilled drinks after a party), from the ambient noise of synths and guitar licks to the nasal vocals. XTC are rarely this anchored in the arteries of society; I hear more Talking Heads than anything else, especially in "Godhopping". "Covered in Flowers" wouldn't be at all out of place on this album, if it didn't come out 20 years ago. There's a lot of energy in this band, and the sort of social commentary that makes you feel good that you're not "one of those"... until they find where you were hiding and let you project the meaning of a song on yourself. Whether you're lazy/unemployed/unambitious ("Lounger"), or you run away from your problems and live in denial in shallow comforts ("Godhopping"), you rationalize breakups with unfair comparisons ("Celebrity Sanctum"), or you're just envious ("Paul Newman's Eyes", "Glimpse at the Good Life")... it's like self-help.

Every track has memorable lines and something that sticks in the balcony section of your auditory imagination and makes comments. This is the sort of boldness within traditionalism that causes me to continually peruse the world for new decent artists. There's no reason not to buy this album unless you're in the PETA.

3 out of 5 stars So what if it's not original.......2006-07-27

As many reviewers point out, Dogs Die in Hot Cars sound extremely similar to XTC, and they do, but is that a bad thing? Very few bands are original, most draw from their influences, and if the music is decent I have no problem if they sound like someone else. A little over 38 minutes long, this disc goes by quickly but there are plenty of upbeat, poppy songs with entertaining lyrics. This CD also contains the following videos, playable only on a computer: "Godhopping", "I Love You `Cause I Have To" and "Lounger". Not unique, but still a good disc.

5 out of 5 stars GET IT.......2006-02-18

This is a fantastic album; every song should be no.1 in my opinion! In my opinion their best songs are 'Somewhat Off The Way', 'Glimpse At The Good Life' and 'Godhopping', closely followed by 'Lounger', 'Modern Woman' and 'Celebrity Sanctum'.
Take my advice and ignore the criticism of the lead singer: he has a great voice....they're a credit to the UK - GET IT NOW!

4 out of 5 stars Overall just barely good - it has its fair share of catchy and entertaining songs, though - most won't like the singer.......2006-01-08

Dogs Die In Hot Cars (wow that's a bad name) definitely give "Please Describe Yourself" their all, but in the end it's barely a good album. There are definitely relatively good songs here ("I Love You 'Cause I Have To", "Godhopping", "Modern Woman" and "Lounger"), but the album is pretty cheesy as a whole (though there are no "bad" songs here if you like the singer) and the singer is just not good at all. You'll definitely get annoyed by his singing (it's punkish sounding with a British accent). You can tell these guys have talent - they certainly know how to create a great sounding song with a good hook. If they could write better songs and get a better singer then they could become a really big band I think. The lyrics aren't really that interesting to listen to either. The saving grace here is that every song is good if you like the singer. This is essentially for ska/punk fans only. Recommended only if you like the singer.

Highlights include:
the entire album if you like the singer

3 out of 5 stars

Music Album:

  1. Above the Noise ~ The Revolution Smile
  2. Thirds ~ The James Gang
  3. La Mia Vita Violenta ~ Blonde Redhead
  4. Lost Horizon ~ Friends of Dean Martinez
  5. Aurora ~ Esmerine
  6. Guestroom ~ Ivy
  7. The Great Eastern ~ The Delgados
  8. Seven Nations ~ Seven Nations
  9. The Classic Years ~ Nico
  10. Boom Like That, Pt. 2 ~ Mark Knopfler

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Cello ~ David Darling

Just One of Those Nights: At the Village Vanguard ~ Eastern Rebellion

Moscow ~ Valery Ponomarev

Volume 3 ~ Keith Ingham New York Nine

Stopper/Oleo ~ Sonny Rollins

The Last Trane ~ John Coltrane

Exitos Y Recuerdos ~ Mazz

Ou Vont Les Reves ~ Michel Jonasz

Ao Vivo No Cbgb ~ Ratos De Porao

All the Best from Tijuana ~ Various Artists