(single/ EMI)
Whoah! Whoah! Whoah! Now we�re talking now Dogs Die In Cars are walking.
And the three fantastically titled songs here equally impress with their content, as the title track in �I Love You Cause I Have To� plays through its wicked Ska-pop verse into a sublime chorus that�s not half as guilty as the song title suggests it should be. What with its harmonious �Oh-way-oh� backing chant and good vibe, something says Dogs Die are Steve Winwood fans�
But suffocating hell! This single just gets better and better, and any young guys in the round get wetter and wetter as the single quirkily progresses into �Celebrity Sanctum� territory, the crafty singer Craig Macintosh (yes, he is Scottish� and while the band formed in Fife, DDIHC are not based in Glasgow) sounding damn desperate to get close to any one of a handbag boutique�s wealth of young, posh and loaded famous birds from Lucy Liu to Angelina Jolie and Cath-Zeta-Jones� all the while his soulful vox reminding of a multitude of classic pop-rock icons such as Morrissey, Lloyd Cole and Steve Harley. Though I�m convinced that his vocal chords have been transplanted and Bryan Ferry�s posed as the donor.
Acoustic-based with subtle brass breaks seeing through the chorus, this band isn�t quite as twee as Belle & Seb and the Divine Comedy, but it is just as talented and original and thus just as essential� especially when the finger-picked wake-up call of �Somewhat Off The Way� proves a poetically intelligent, harmoniously cool and captivating lament on how us mere mortals tend to waste our lives doing nothing worthwhile far too often. With the singer I agree. �I just don�t want to die like a fool.�
God aii. Dogs Die. Don�t we all?
Already I absolutely love this band, for I�ve never before heard such uplifting downbeat-pop. 5/5 (STEVE RUDD)
Release date: August 4th 2003
www.dogsdieinhotcars.com www.radiaterecords.com