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.