The
most common criticism of the Dandy Warhols I've read is their
lack of lyrical depth, but I’m not sure those people quite
get this band. The lyrical glibness ( they like to call themselves
"America's dizziest band" -- www.dandywarhols.com) is part of
their appeal. So imagine my surprise when perusing the song titles
on the Warhol's latest full length release, "Thirteen Tales from
Urban Bohemia" -- the first three tracks are "Godless", "Neitzsche"
, and "Muhammed". The songs don’t exactly sound fun, but
thankfully, the band didn’t react to past criticisms by injecting
introspective and intellectual affectations into the tunes.That
said, this isn't some Britney/Backstreet tripe. Lyricist Courtney
Taylor-Taylor (yes, twice) has a wit that comes off as flippant
and satirical all at once. On the amphetamine-addled, "Horse Pills",
frontman Taylor -Taylor croons about a pill-popping sugarmama
: "Sometimes you feel like Moses/ That’s when you’re
toasted . . .".
Ok, so Belle and
Sebastian it’s not, but that’s the point -- it’s
about the music, man, and fans won’t be disappointed. Mining
the last 30 years or so of rock (with a little rap, scratch and
country thrown in), the band succeeds in topping their last album,
"Come Down" with an impressively versatile style and sound. A
few stand outs: post- (forgive me) grunge musings on sex in "Get
Off ", the Lou Reed mumbling guitar orgy of "Shakin’", and
a Stones-like pot shot at the in-crowd in "Bohemian Like You".
The Dandy Warhols ought to be bigger than big, but the only place
they are is in Britain, where the band's been revered by people
like David Bowie since their 1995 debut. So give yourself a break
from the poetics and politics of the sulking troubadours and rock
out with this Portland pop-rock quintet. Sure, it’s mostly
mindless, but Andy Warhol got more than his 15 minutes by espousing
the virtues of style over substance.
