Song of the Week #19: "Pastimes & Lifestyles" by Dogs Die In Hot Cars

It's fair to say bands with stupid names have to try that little bit harder to make any impression on me. In the case of Dogs Die In Hot Cars, the turning point came with hearing a fantastic song called Somewhat off The Way on a compilation CD. Sure enough, further investigation into the band's debut album Please Describe Yourself showed a pop band very much in touch with early-80s new-wavers like XTC, best shown on tunes like the brilliant Pastimes & Lifestyles. They seemingly vanished soon after, but better to leave one brilliant album as a legacy than slowly fade, right?

MP3: Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Pastimes & Lifestyles

Spotify: Please Describe Yourself

Song of the Week #18: "A Darkness Now Is Coming" by Hope & Social

It seems like only five minutes ago Hope & Social released Architect Of This Church, but they're back with another album already. I could swear there was no mention of it when I interviewed them at the start of the year. As with Architect, April can be downloaded for whatever you want to pay, and while not as strong as its predecessor, if you've liked any of their previous work either under the name Hope & Social or Four Day Hombre, there'll be something here of interest.

My pick of the bunch is the folky A Darkness Now Is Coming. At the recent Cuckoo's Fest (from where I took the above pic), for this song the band members scattered themselves around the crowd to play an unplugged version to great effect.

Head over to their website and chuck some money their way!

MP3: Hope & Social - A Darkness Now Is Coming