The swing of The Dandy Warhols will continue to dominate our radios. If we were all listening to the radio that is. With the advent of commercial pop, there is a good chance this kind of genre will always remain in the limelight. This would be a problem, if the band could give a rat’s ass. Here comes a band that is bathed in satire, soaked in humour and realises what it does is to have fun while making music. This is their latest album, full of cameos more than a Marvel movie. This one is called Rockmaker.
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Sure, it is a little on the nose. When have The Dandy Warhols not been? Their name is a pun for god sakes. Just the distortion laced opening of Doomsday Bells should be enough of a taste test for you. The contrast is brilliant, haunting vocals ringing in the back of your head. Don’t forget, their 2020 album Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone had a blanket nod under the chaos of whatever was going on then. Past is in the past. Revelling in the kind of jam sessions they have got to be a part of, Rockmaker is the album that sounds like a sweep through the radio. Diversity doesn’t get more interesting than this.
If you’re reading this part of the article, it is evident that you love a band like The Dandy Warhols. Their play on genres has always been something to take a gander at. Perhaps an alternative of alternative rock band Radiohead, they have always taken turns in trying out the weirdest and wackiest. With Frank Black of The Pixies, they bring us what can be one of the catchiest post-grunge songs of all time. They find a healthy middle, making The Dandy Pixies, a one time show which we hope will have a world tour. Danzig with Myself is distortion doused, while still having that four chord verse change that we have identified to be the crux of the movement.
Moving to Teutonic Wine, we’re looking at riff central expanding its boundaries. You don’t want this energy to atrophy, if anything, it makes you want more. Imagine yourself singing this during a karaoke. Beer’s going to be free in that bar for the rest of your life. The oddities that surround The Dandy Warhols are what make them stickier than ever. Mind you, this is their release after instrumental psychedelia with their previous release. You try to contain them with prefixed genre boxes, but they’re like mercury on your palm. The Summer of Hate brings a quicker tempo, while still making rock. You’re in for a more joyous swing, and they float through the dark and light emotions like an iron pendulum. God, corrosion never sounded so good.
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Released as a single a year ago, I’d Like To Help You With Your Problem has some signature Slash featuring. The riff might be theirs, but the tonality is dominated by the man in the aviators and top hat. It can very well become an iconic transition scene in movies, with the kind of instrumental wizardry that is going on. The Cross gets a darker, heavier riff and dares to bring a disco dance to it. Very Jack White, but minus the feel of the garage raw energy. Are The Dandy Warhols here to watch you have a good time? No, they’re here to have a good time, you’re a spectator with your jaw dropping.
Typically, the band is notorious for having album titles that are generally misleading. Extremely creative also, I must add. Debut album? Dandy Rules OK. 2003, Welcome to The Monkey House. They constantly like tugging at the fabric of this so-called spectrum of genres we are limited to. To make it complicit with social media’s understanding of mainstream society, they simplify things. Rockmaker is this album’s name, and well, it has done its job pretty well.
Cover to cover, listening to this live is a trip in itself. Root of All Evil has one of my favourite hooks, and I can’t believe no one has written that kind of riff before. Pay more attention to the lyrics, and it can’t sharper and more acerbic than this. If all the metaphors and imagery were hurting your brain from prior releases, this is as easy as watching an infant eat ice cream. The pavement is going to taste it as well.
Instead of pre-chewed chewing gum being regurgitated at an alarming pace, The Dandy Warhols have taken it to the studio to make something that will cement their legacy. It took 4 years, but every song is worth its while. One of the best complete albums of 2024? You bet your banking password. Listen to the band make rock like the “pop-art namesake” they are. Their words, not mine.
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
