Probably the strongest thing about the current Glasgow crop (I'm always uneasy to employ the term 'scene' too readily) is that the frontrunners are all quite different and largely easily recognisable. The omnipresent Franz Ferdinand have succeeded by putting a stylish, modern twist on Josef K's aloof guitar angularity; The Needles are making bedfellows of Ramones-y ramalama infused with Costello-ish lyrical intrigue and now we have Dogs Die In Hot Cars making rubble of the charts with their bright, brash and breezy British pop.
There again, if you intend to fashion memorable 3-minute tunes cut from the same cloth as evergreen UK popsters such as Madness, Elvis Costello, Dexy's Midnight Runners and Morrissey, then you could do worse than hire the producers who have assisted these exalted names to the top rungs on the ladder. So when you realise it's Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley occupying the chairs in the control room you're hardly liable to encounter ragas and noseflute interludes, right?
Dead on. And so it proves that Dogs Die's debut album "Please Describe Yourself" turns out to be one of those fine, old-fashioned 35 minute efforts infused with breezy choruses, above-average lyrics and memorable tunes where the hooks mostly come thicker than a builder's yard full of short planks.
The band's two recent singles "Godhopping" and "I Love You 'Cause I Have To" are indicative of the album's overall feel. The former kicks in with a tasty piano motif that's textbook Langer & Winstanley and with its' horrendously catchy "all the way to Bombay" chorus and all-round bright'n'brainy pop sensurround it's no surprise it cracked the Top 30 even in these jaded times. "I Love You 'Cause..", meanwhile, is arguably catchier still. It's an immensely enjoyable skankalong with just enough cynicism to keep things interesting.
The pace is maintained during tunes like "Lounger", "Apples & Oranges" and "Modern Woman". All are damn near perfectly executed guitar pop with little individual twists. "Lounger" features clipped, funky guitars akin to early Talking Heads; "Apples & Oranges" features Langer & Winstanley dipping into their extensive repertoire for some nice harpsichord-style keyboard textures and sleigh bells, while the song itself has just a faint whiff of whimsical psychedelia and "Modern Woman" is surely a contender as the next single with some attractive'n'spangly, Byrds-y guitars and untouchable three-way harmonies.
|
Elsewhere, an active interest in fashion and fatal fame rears its' head: not least on "Celebrity Sanctum", "Pastimes And Lifestyles" and the closing "Glimpse At The Good Life". "Pastimes..." is fairly typical of the band's customary whippy pop, but "Celebrity Sanctum"s slow, semi-acoustic ode to the dangers of obsessing over the trappings of fame is intriguing and "Glimpse At The Good Life" ensures a slightly bitter aftertaste lingers on after the sugary content of a few of the tunes, not least "Paul Newman's Eyes", which tries so hard to be quirky it ties itself in knots and -even more worryingly - reminds me of The Supernaturals. Not a good idea, chaps.
Still, there's plenty here to enjoy, and with a further counterbalance via songs like "Somewhat Off The Way" ( which recalls the pastoral feel of mid-period XTC and a greater maturity ) "Please Describe Yourself" is an expressive, successfully melodic record that will break through even without a Franz Ferdinand-style front cover frenzy. As the band put it succinctly on "Lounger": "Don't keep up with the cool, I make my own rules." On this evidence, I can only concur with that philosophy.
|
