My review: The Hot Puppies - Somewhere ►

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www.thehotpuppies.com
www.myspace.com/becandbeth

Track listing:

1. Anyone Who Had A Heart
2. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
3. French Song
4. I'm Making Believe

Scroll down for lyrics!

(Limited edition vinyl and iTunes only, although promo CDs have shown up on eBay.)

Serving to whet appetites for the album Blue Hands, due at the end of this month, this EP is the ladies from The Hot Puppies demonstrating their talents acoustically. So, what've we got on offer here? Three covers and a new song...

Anyone Who Had a Heart was apparently written by Burt Bacharach and popularised by Cilla Black, and fits nicely with the band's habit of rooting around in the past as if it were a particularly capitivating dressing-up box on a wet day. The staccato piano notes make the piece sound a little taut and on edge, which suits the lyrical content.

I'm not familiar with the Smiths song Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me either, but it's in a similar vein to the first track — a slightly omninous instrumental, pregnant with meaning, etc. Both are songs I'd normally have to be in a particular mood for, but they work as part of a 'whole EP' running order.

More upbeat, French Song is the pick of the tracks for me, an original number with simple and beautifully melancholic strings running through the background (with counterpoised vocals) that wired themselves into my head in short order. Picking out some of the lyrics is possible, même si je ne suis pas bon pour l'écoute en français et je ne peux pas présenter observations sur l'exactitude, but whether you're following them or not it's very pleasant to wrap yourself in the sound.

I’m Making Believe was written by Mack Gordon and originally performed by Ella Fitzgerald. It sounds very Puppies-ish, and would be right at home on a full band release, but the simple arrangement and gentle backing harmonies work very well herein.

The temptation with download releases is to only get the recordings that stand out, and if that's your habit I'd suggest going for the third and maybe fourth tracks. On the whole I'd rather bung the band or label five quid for an official promo than do this, even if was a homemade CD-R... there's something missing in MP3s, and it isn't (for me) any album art that'd normally accompany a release. It's having an 'official' backup, without which music feels transitory and difficult to attach a sense of value to. And vinyl strikes me as bloody stupid in today's world of music being played on lots of different hardware. I know the economic situation with singles these days, but I think the response to mass unsanctioned copying of music shouldn't be to offer physical media only in a form that's so anti-digital-use. CDs are much more versatile than the alternatives.

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ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART

Anyone who ever loved could look at me
And know that I love you
Anyone who ever dreamed could look at me
and know I dream of you
Knowing I love you so

Anyone who had a heart
Would take me in his arms and love me, too
You couldn't really have a heart and hurt me,
Like you hurt me and be so untrue
What am I to do

Every time you go away, I always say
This time it's goodbye , dear
Loving you the way I do
I take you back, without you I'd die dear
Knowing I love you so

Anyone who had a heart
Would take me in his arms and love me, too
You couldn't really have a heart and hurt me,
Like you hurt me and be so untrue
What am I to do

Knowing I love you so

Anyone who had a heart
Would take me in his arms and love me, too
You couldn't really have a heart and hurt me,
Like you hurt me and be so untrue
Anyone who had a heart would love me too
Anyone who had a heart would take me in his arms and love me too
Why won't you
LAST NIGHT I DREAMED THAT SOMEBODY LOVED ME

Last night I dreamt
That somebody loved me
No hope, but no harm
Just another false alarm

Last night I felt
real arms around me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm

So, tell me how long
Before the last one?
And tell me how long
Before the right one?

This story is old, I know
But it goes on
This story is old, I know
But it goes on
Oh,goes on
And on
Oh, goes on
And on
FRENCH SONG

(Sorry, you'll have to work this one out yourself...)
I'M MAKING BELIEVE

I'm making believe that you're in my arms
Though I know you're so far away
Making believe I'm talking to you, 
Wish you could hear what I say
And here in the gloom of my lonely room 
We're dancing like we used to do
Making believe is just another way of dreaming, 
So till my dreams come true
I'll whisper "Good night", 
Turn out the light, and kiss my pillow
Making believe it's you

I'm making believe that you're in my arms 
Though I know you're so far away
Making believe I'm talkin' to you, 
Wish you could hear what I say
And here in the gloom of my lonely room 
We're dancing like we used to do
Making believe is just another way of dreaming, 
So till my dreams come true
I'll whisper "Good night", 
Turn out the light, and kiss my pillow
Making believe it's you

And here in the gloom of my lonely room 
We're dancing like we used to do

Making believe is just another way of dreamin', 
So till my dreams come true
I'll whisper "Good night", 
Turn out the light, and kiss my pillow
Making believe it's you

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