I guess at this moment in time you may be thinking, “Who the hell are they?” Well for me they are one of the best things to ever to come out of the U.S.A. Them and the Fun Lovin’ Criminals (FLC) I mention the FLC, because like them the Dandy Warhols are bigger over here than they are back home. I will forgive you if you are not familiar with them as their biggest hit was “Not if you were the last Junkie on Earth” which was back in 1997. The best description of their style I suppose is a modern day seventies Rolling Stones (does that make sense?).
“Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia” is their third album and was released in 2000. “Q” Magazine made this album one of their top 50 releases of that year – high praise indeed. As the title suggests, Courtney Taylor-Taylor (only in America could you get a name like that) has taken his inspiration for these thirteen songs from a variety of different lifestyles, careers and backgrounds.
Th opening track is “Godless” and begins by building up a huge wall of sound before Courtney launches into the song. Strangely his voice seems reasonably
quiet but as with most of his songs it’s really catchy. The use of a trumpet makes this song stand out from the majority of material released by today’s indie bands . The end of this song blends seamlessly into the start of the next track “Mohammed”. The pace is slowed down before the tune really kicks in. A more laid back sound is present and the singing is again fairly quiet but sparse – it again playing second fiddle to the trumpet. This song sort of floats along, so the next track comes as a bit of a shock.
Again there is no pause between tracks, but the mood now becomes darker and more oppressive for “Nietzsche”. The music is a lot heavier than before, but for the Dandy Warhols – variety is the spice of life. Hence track four “Country Leaver” is country and western music! The album title states this is thirteen tales, and this is the tale of the country bumpkin backpacking around Europe.
Next up is “Solid” and this is very reminiscent of their previous album “Come Down”, as it has a feel of the Beach Boys about it. “Solid” is a really jolly tune and can best be described as jangly guitar pop. Once again after this the music returns to their heavier rock side.
For me the best song on this album is “Horse Pills”. It is the story of a gigolo to some rich American woman. The lyrics are wonderfully written and some screaming guitars back Courtney’s sneering vocals. It is possibly the heaviest track on this album but I would rate it as their strongest piece of work to date.
This is followed by “Get Off”. This sound’s very reminiscent of Sergo Leone’s score for the film “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”. Although the lyrics are again fairly sparse - just using the same repeated lines, they are very eerie and this helps to produce another good song.
The pace of the album’s tempo now slows dramatically for “Sleep”. This is in the same vein as the Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping”, hence the music is very dreamy and relaxing as Courtney’s voice sounds almost angelic.
Once again the pace quickens as the album steps up a gear with the song “Cool Scene”. This song is in a similar vein to the previous track “Solid”, Once again the trumpet returns but this time it is just used to back up the vocals. The tenth song is the brilliant “Bohemian Like You” which is again in a similar style, but once again it is the lyrics which stand out, especially the chorus. Writer’s note: this is a great song to go driving to, especially along country lanes!
The final three tracks are “Shakin’”, “Big Indian” and “The Gospel”, and with these the album starts to wind down towards the finish. These are still all pieces of high quality work. “Shakin” smacks of shades of Blur’s early work, whereas “Big Indian” is more a slowed down Oasis (but with American accents). Finally we reach “The Gospel” which is a seriously laid back tune. If the album could be compared to a race, then this song just ambles over the finishing line – before collapsing the other side! It provides a perfect end to, for me, a damn near perfect album.
After listening to this you will have probably noticed that the Dandy Warhols only use about four different chords. This doesn’t really matter as it is over-shadowed by the strength of Courtney Taylor-Taylor’s well-observed lyrics and the band’s ability mix-up their style. The album’s structure is also impeccable (for once!) and the songs are in a logical order so, even though the music style keeps changing the overall presentation is not disjointed.
For me this was the best album released in the year 2000, and it is also the Dandy Warhols’ best work so far. They are easy to listen to so, you don’t need to be in a particular frame of mind before sticking them into your CD player (or whatever).
If you ever get the chance to see them live, be warned the bassist/keyboard payer is notorious for flashing her boobs on stage...
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great op on my favourite band and one of my favourite albums - "and i feel, woohoo, WOO!!"... heh. sorry about that, got carried away...
jennystevenson 02.09.2001 01:15
I couldn't stand them at first, but now I love them, especially this album. Godless is possibly my favourite, love the whispery vocals. Cheers, Jenny =)
GrUnGe_GaL 08.03.2001 08:53
I know who they are!!!! hehehe I think they are grand
13 Tales From Urban Bohemia, the third album from the Dandy Warhols, has the band ... more
departing from the degenerate slacker psychedelia of their previous works. Well, mostly. From the first three tracks of Urban Bohemia, you'd be forgiven for thinking that...
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Mar 5th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
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