'Enjoy Hot!' by Gutter Puppy
Review
It's not especially surprising for bands to release albums which wholly reflect sets they've played: most debut ones will generally mirror what audiences have been hearing hitherto.
What is more surprising is for the band to cite one specific setlist & then go to the lengths which Gutter Puppy have done with the much anticipated ‘Enjoy Hot!' to immortalise the event. Though I'm pretty chuffed because I was there for the historic performance at Covtember at The Tin the year before last.
Since the original running order was written on the back of a box previously containing a pizza purchased & consumed by Joe Colombi, this has formed the basis for the whole album theme (you can enjoy checking out an exact reproduction of the box on the rear of the CD). It's fair to assume that the title owes much to this too.
That set consisted (in this order) of the songs "Green Means Go!", "Cog" (which we featured on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume 11' ) "Overthinking", "Amsterdam", "Daddy", "Jenny", "28", "Daylight Misogyny", "Seventy", "Time To Go" and "Oasis", all written & performed by Adam Robinson, Connie Rudman and Ryan Field and recorded with Dave Draper at The Old Cider Press in Fladbury mostly live over two days,
This conscious & admirable strategy ensures that ‘Enjoy Hot!' manifests that sense of immediacy which attracts people to Gutter Puppy. However I think if you had a poll of their audience they'd add other attributes to that one.
Two or three of these relate to how they write effective, direct polemical songs which cut straight to the heart of matters yet deliver them through accessible, delightful tunes without compromising either aspect: with many bands, this balancing might come across as a daredevil act of highwire tension yet Gutter Puppy give the impression of achieving this with natural ease. Actually I count four attributes in there.
Prime examples include the fan favourite "Daylight Misogyny" ( check out the video for this one at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alwv-eL0GaA which manages to make a charming film about an unacceptable phenomenon) or the afore mentioned "Cog". Not an inch of ideological ground is conceded yet once in your head, these tunes cannot be shifted. Well that's my experience. It certainly helps you engage continuously with the important subjects (well played Gutter Puppy) and adds a dynamic to what they are doing. And they do it effortlessly. What's not to love?
Having plenty of heart when you take on nasty subjects so directly helps: Gutter Puppy already possess the moral high ground when they opt for the theme of such songs so why descend from that? Taking aim at the unacceptable is even more effective if you offer better alternatives or demonstrate how far above such behaviours you are.
If you play live regularly and thus hone already well conceived and written songs then the potential for a perfect album is high. Unsurprisingly Gutter Puppy pull this off. Comparisons with other perfect punk pop albums (‘The Undertones' or ‘Singles Going Steady' for obvious examples though Gutter Puppy do tackle more profound subjects it must be said) probably bore the band and such exercises can be odious, but this set stands up. No wonder so many people love them. Fans of the live shows will have a hard time waiting to own the songs for playing in their own space: how lucky I am to have them a little early. Thank you Gutter Puppy.
Dave's strategy seems to have been similar to what Elvis Costello commented on after producing The Specials and The Pogues "to capture them in their….glory before some more professional producer fucked them up". Not that I'm doubting Dave's professionalism but rather what Elvis meant that the tendency of producers to intervene in the music can diminish it if it's pure & true. This has not happened here.
Like me, you will probably get caught in that wilderness of mirrors if you try and identify a "favourite": every time you think you've done it, you play the next track and your resolve goes out of the door. It's another of those classic "eleven potential singles" sets which you tend to get when artists build a set this way rather than try and "write an album": an approach which almost always results in that tedious artefact, the filler song.
If songs like "Cog" or "Daylight Misogyny" had already won your heart, be prepared for new contenders. All of the others fit this bill.
"Daddy" is astonishing: if you don't know it (or like me: yes I confess it, process the details of the lyrics better on record than I have in gigs) then this will certainly make you sit up and take notice. Or there is that outpouring of frustration which is "Oasis". I hope it was cathartic writing it: it certainly seems to have that effect as they play it.
I could go on but deconstructing such spontaneous and honest songs seems not just pointless but disrespectful & missing the overall point of each one. Tempting as it is as a reviewer to try to justify your existence by minute breaking down of songs is miss the glory of the whole wood by staring at single trees. It might even verge on the masturbatory. So I take advice from the epic sounding (think Jesus and Mary Chain getting over excited) "Overthinking" and at this point step back & just advise you to enjoy ‘Enjoy Hot!' holistically. Please do play it: the problem may be more of one of finding it hard to stop playing it.
There are several Gutter Puppy live opportunities to populate your diaries with:
‘Enjoy Hot!' is officially launched at the Hare & Hounds in Birmingham on May 29th with fellow HMLP featured bands Trust Club and The Caroline Bomb
On the 30th May they are celebrating the release at the West Indian Club in Rugby with Stegosaurus Sex Party and Mesch.
On Friday 20th June Gutter Puppy join Monastery, Permanent Daylight and King of the Alps at the next "Hot Music Live Presents" fundraiser for The Tin.
https://www.ticketweb.uk/event/hot-music-live-presents-monastery-the-tin-at-the-coal-tickets/14371523
