Please Describe Yourself

Typical. You hang around waiting for an art rock influenced guitar band from Glasgow to come along and then two arrive at once. Although their name might suggest a background in hardcore punk, DDIHC deal in their own unique brand of well informed pop music. For a Scottish band, they have an oddly English feel to them, taken from an obvious love for XTC and Dexy’s Midnight Runners (an influence felt most keenly in the vocals).

The danger, of course, is that the whole enterprise ends up heading down some smart arse side alley and – while that is a slight problem on the one duff track ‘Paul Newman’s Eyes’ – Please Describe Yourself is mainly an absolute joy. The album fizzes with a life that manifests itself in track after track of infectious energy, ensuring that when they do decide to throw everything possible into the production – ‘Godhopping’, ‘I Love You ‘Cause I Have To’ – it’s the strength of the songs that stick in the mind. They can do elegant emotion too, as typified by the closing ‘Glimpse At The Good Life’.

In the end, Please Describe Yourself is virtually the complete package and certainly one of the most impressive debuts to emerge from anywhere, including Glasgow, this year.