Dogs Die In Hot Cars
It’s not often that a band releases an album so diverse and original, yet so consistently entertaining. Dogs Die In Hot Car’s first record, Please Describe Yourself is a marvel of far flung influences that are given cohesion through its observational and humane nature. These songs reflect the popular culture of our time with witty descriptions of the absurdity of fame and celebrity worship and the strange demands placed on modern man and woman. This is a band with a seriously deep well of ideas and one that warrants further investigation, so while the group in on our island for a tour with Eskimo Joe, I had to get an interview. Band member Lee Worrall was available so I jumped at the chance, besides the band is from Scotland and I love the accent.

Hey Lee where are you calling from?
“I’m in a hotel in Bondi Junction.”
Have you been in Australia before?
“No none of us have. We’ve been treated great, it’s going to be hard to go back to the UK.”
Are all the band members from Scotland?
“Yeah, we’re all from Fife but we live in Glasgow now.”
The album is very eclectic; did you have any trouble presenting it to the label?
“No not at all, they knew what they were going to get when they signed us. It wasn’t a conscious thing, every song was approached is a different way, we don’t use a set approach.”
To me the underlining theme of the album is a take on the absurdity of fame and modern life.
“Yeah, well Craig (band member Craig Macintosh) writes most of the lyrics and he in no way wants to preach or say something insignificant, there is substance to the lyrics but it’s more like starting a conversation I suppose.”
I usually don’t ask an artist what their songs mean because that description can run counter to the meaning that the listener has developed.
“It’s like if you go to an art gallery and you see people looking at a work and looking confused and then they will read the little card next to it and go oh yeah I like it now, it that right? Just because it means that to the artist, it doesn’t have to mean that to the audience.”
How many songs did the band have before choosing the final ten?
“We had a whole bunch, we could have made the album longer but we wanted to keep it short and have the album flow as a piece itself.”
One of the album’s main charms is its freedom from the restraints of pop song conventions.
“You don’t want to analyze what you do too much, as long as we all think it has a good feel. You know when it clicks but we’re not above ripping it all apart and starting again.”
I hear a strong influence from an underrated LA band called Oingo Boingo, have you ever heard of them?
“No, I guess that’s another one to add to the list of influences.”
The alphabet list?
“Yeah, Someone said to me earlier today we sounded like an upbeat Coldplay.”
I don’t know if I would really like that, although if you were an upbeat Coldplay you could name your children after fruit. If it was a girl you could name her pears.
“Yeah nice pears.”
I think the work reflects a real awareness of the world around us.
“Most of the lyrics are commenting on human behavior, people talk a lot about musical influences but the influences on the band aren’t necessarily musical. Things like going down to the supermarket getting your lunch and being pushed out of the queue by a lady with her trolley or getting on the bus and having an argument with the bus driver, everyday life is an influence.”
Rob Hudson
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