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Dandy Warhols
Thirteen Tales of Urban Bohemia
Grooving on the Dandy's last CD - The Dandy Warhols Come Down - back in 1988, we kicked myself for being dragged out of town to miss the Dandy's play at the World Famous Purple Onion!!! Mixed with a good good smattering of Brian Jonestown Massacre CD's being added to my collection at this time, that whole west-coast-drone-pop sound was the hottest thing going. When we got towed around the (Michigan) UP with Hirk sucking on gallons of beer from Lake Superior Brewing Company listing to the mix tape of the Dandy's and BJM for fuel, life couldn't get any better. The feuding tales between the two bands only kept it more interesting. Alas we're now full swing into the millennium, the west coast music scene (well, more specifically, the SF music scene) is supposedly being replaced by dotcommers, and good old rock and roll has been quickly replaced by either electronica dance mixes or the flavor du jour Limp Bizket/Kid Rock soundalike. Just when we had given up on the Dandy's and their sound, along comes news of back to back August shows of the Dandy's (Thursday) and BJM (Friday) at the Great American Music Hall in SF. While we, once again, miss the Dandy's show, we do catch BJM (or, more appropriately Anton and who ever he can drag on stage) and start hankering for that slightly retro 60's guitar laden pychopop sound again. That's when we find out that after quite a rest for a young band the Dandy's have come out with their new disk - Thirteen Tales of Urban Bohemia. If you're digging simple, driving, swirling, effects driven guitar sounds and reverb fueled soft, slow, laid back vocals rock punctuated with the occasional keyboard or vocal oh oh oh hooks, the Dandy's '98 release, Come Down, is for you. This is what got us here at tunefilter! No rocket science - strictly 4/4 timing. No tricky moving bass parts. Drums, decks, and bass it ain't. The best tunes on this new album follow a similar patter. In fact, right off the bat, the first three songs seem to fall in line with these expected but pleasant expectations. This disc does, however, explore a little new territory for the Dandy's - from a little bit of a country feel in Country Leaver to some gospel flavor in The Gospel - territory which, we regret to say, doesn't really flatter the band. Stick with their layered dronepop specialties (as picked below), and your evening relaxing in the beanbag chair with the headphone on and your black earth shoes kicked off will be complete.
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