V2. / Bmg
2004
Please Describe Yourself
About This Album
Dogs Die in Hot Cars' full-length debut, Please Describe Yourself, reveals the band to be mellower and more diverse than its singles suggested. Although the angular ska-tinged pop of "I Love You 'Cause I Have To" and the manic, ever so slightly geeky "Godhopping" are still two of the band's standout songs, the full album shows that the somewhat unfortunately named band doesn't just deal in new wave pastiche. Instead of just beating one style into the ground, on Please Describe Yourself Dogs Die in Hot Cars mine the past of British pop but find relatively fresh ways of rediscovering it. The band gets downright pastoral on the gentle, mostly acoustic "Somewhat Off the Way" and delivers bouncy, breezy pop with "Lounger," one of the tracks that showcases the band's witty call-and-response arrangements and dense vocal harmonies. XTC is a strong influence on Please Describe Yourself, but unlike many of the bands following in Andy Partridge and company's footsteps in the 2000s, Dogs Die in Hot Cars borrow from XTC's warmer, poppier work from the mid- and late '80s rather than their early, sharply angular material. "Apples & Oranges" is a perfect example of this sunny, good-natured pop.
Track List (try tracks 1,3,4,5 and 6)

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