The Dandy Warhols “Rockmaker”

sfilzen — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 17:19:14 +0000

The Dandy Warhols “Rockmaker” 2024. Beat the World/Sunset Blvd Records. Limited edition “Sea Glass Blue” vinyl. Buzzy neo-psych alternative rock, the 12th studio LP from the 90’s/early 00’s indie darlings (I was/am a huge fan of their first few releases). We finally got a chance to see them live this past weekend at Summerfest! I know they played at least a couple of songs from this new album but I didn’t get a chance to listen to it prior but I’m fairly certain they played the high energy rocker and first single from Rockmaker “Summer of Hate” and possibly the super-funky “Root of All Evil.” They for sure played a few of my old faves: “We Used to Be Friends,” “You Were the Last High” (which holds a special place in my heart as Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes produced the record and its video is a recreation of D2’s “Planet Earth”) and of course their big hit “Bohemian Like You.” Another highlight was their cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” which they introduced as “a song we’ve been waiting 40 years to play in Wisconsin.” Though I really don’t like the original, I absolutely sang along with the rest of the crowd.

I haven’t really kept up with Dandy Warhols’ releases for the past 20 years so I’m writing from a place of relative ignorance, but Rockmaker is just as strong, maybe even better overall, as their material from 25 years ago. Besides “Summer of Hate,” I am totally digging the entire record with standouts including the slinky, ass-shaking “Teutonic Wine,” the two other singles: heavy, shredding rocker (courtesy of Slash) “I’d Like to Help You with Your Problem” and “Danzig with Myself” which features another, slightly elder indie darling Black Frances of the Pixies. Also of note is the sinister album-closer “I Will Never Stop Loving You” which features a not-sinister Debbie Harry.

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The Dandy Warhols “Welcome to the Monkey House”

sfilzen — Fri, 05 May 2023 19:28:40 +0000

The Dandy Warhols “Welcome to the Monkey House” released 20 years ago today, May 5th, 2003. Extremely notable for including Duran Duran members Simon Le Bon on backing vocals (“Plan A”) and Nick Rhodes on synths (multiple tracks) plus Nick produced the majority of the LP which explains….everything, really. Plus Nile Rodgers on guitar (“I Am a Scientist”)! Weirdly, even actress Parker Posey makes an appearance playing mandolin (“I Am Sound”). It’s no wonder this was my favorite album of the early 00’s and I continue to put some of its tracks on playlists 20 years later.

I adore this record from start to finish, but I do have several songs that rise above the rest. The single “We Used to Be Friends” is gloriously catchy alt-pop; it went to #18 in the UK and has been featured as the theme song to Veronica Mars and was featured on The O.C. and Wonderfalls (so so aughts!). “Plan A” is another favorite that also was a single, going to #66 in the UK. The new wave funk of the above-mentioned “I Am a Scientist,” which sample David Bowie’s “Fashion,” is amazing and produced to sound like a Duran dead-ringer, the loopy falsetto of “The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone” is delightful, and I love 80’s-styled “The Dope (Wonderful You),” too. Plus the single “You Were the Last High” in all of its whispery awesomeness — the fact that its video is an almost exact recreation of Duran Duran’s “Planet Earth” doesn’t hurt either. Welcome to the Monkey House‘s second single, I’m not sure that “You Were the Last High” charted but the band considers it one of the best songs they’ve ever done.

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The Dandy Warhols “Rockmaker”

The Dandy Warhols “Welcome to the Monkey House”