The dogs have their day

Although you might get some idea from flicking through the review pages of various music publications, it’s virtually impossible to gauge the number of records that actually get released over the course of a year.

Pity any new band trying to force their way in, grab a piece of the action and make themselves stand out from the crowd. Feel less sorry for Craig McIntosh and Lee Worrall from Dogs Die In Hot Cars who, with their debut Please Describe Yourself, have gone so far as to make it look easy.”
“It is hard to stand out,” reflects Lee, “but it’s not something that you can make a conscious effort to do, we’ve always just done our own thing and that’s reflected in the album. I think every song’s unique in itself.”
Craig joins the conversation. “It’s about trying to write good music, being realistic. We’re really open and enjoy all different kinds of music. Essentially we wanted to write good short, sharp poppy tunes but each one is a separate piece.”
There’s an awful lot going on throughout the record, the band pulling in styles from all over the place – from ska and rock to the quirkiness of Talking Heads and XTC. How does all this end up as a DDIHC tune?
“That’s such a difficult question,” says Craig, “it’s such a vast thing. Partly the reason we decided to call the album Please Describe Yourself was to throw it back to the listener. A lot of it was to do with the things that we get frustrated about in music, bands whose songs maybe went on too long or didn’t have enough rhythm. That’s as much an inspiration as the things you really like.”
Perhaps the best thing about the band is that they prove that pop music doesn’t have to be dumb, that it is possible to reference a wealth of musical history and make records as sunny as ‘Groundhopping’.
Lee smiles. “You just said it quite naturally there but a lot of people ask us if it’s ok to describe us as pop music. Pop’s not a dirty word.”
DDIHC have taken the slow burn approach, building an audience through live work and a string of ever better-performing singles. Craig feels that this stands them in good stead.
“We’re really pleased with the way things are going. It’s great seeing the album reviews come through. We played at T In The Park and the crowd was massive, around 15,000. We’ve done it the right way. A couple of weeks ago we finished fifty-four days on the road around Britain and that’s the way we’ve been working for the past two years, writing and recording in-between. That’s the old school kind of style. Too often it’s all about hype and buzz rather than letting bands develop and grow.”
The pair have every right to feel so chuffed.
“We were on the dole for three years,” explains Craig. “Well, we made ourselves get sacked so we could go on the dole and work on the band every day. When we got the opportunity we were prepared to work hard at it. It’s a horrible feeling when you’re not doing something with the band.”
Next time you hear some rock star whinging about his or her lot, remember his words. b

Please Describe Yourself is out now on V2