Last Sunday THE DANDY WARHOLS played in Brussels. I saw Portland‘s mean
groove machine several times before, but this concert was a letdown. Not the Dandys fault, it was the awful sound-mix that messed it all up. Frontman Courtney
Taylor-Taylor‘s vocals drowned in a pool of distorted havoc.
They released their pretty good 12th album Rockmaker last March (you can stream it below), but only played a couple (not
the best ones) of tracks off of it.
The band wasn’t, except for keyboardist (and guitar now and then) Zia McCabe (still looking drop-dead gorgeous), weren’t in an interactive mood, so wasn’t the lukewarm crowd. Bummer gig. It can happen to the best. Last Sunday wasn’t a holiday.
Press-info: The cheekiest band in the land is back with ROCKMAKER, The Dandy Warhols‘ 12th studio album. Produced and recorded by the band at their studio/funhouse The Odditorium in Portland, ROCKMAKER sees the “Bohemian Like You” hitmakers celebrate their 30th year together with a sprinkle of glitter on their grime.
Accompanied by guests Debbie Harry, Slash, and Pixies’ Frank Black, The Dandy Warhols wrangle paranoia, untangle anxious discontent, and lust after life while the dance grooves go deeper, heady drones get weirder, and riffage fit for bong rips hammers. ROCKMAKER is the Dandy’s clearest statement yet, at no sacrifice to their outré leanings. This is the sound of outsider alt-psych fixtures looking in as the walls come down.”
Courtney Taylor-Taylor (frontman): Overall, Rockmaker is the manifestation
of our desire to hear a record of heavy raw punk and metal guitar riffs, but it has
its own alley.”
TUTV: As a long-time fan I like the smell of a new Warhols album all day long.
Their 12th one, titled Rockmaker has, overall, a dark psychedelic timbre and a
twilight tone with industrial rock shadows all over it. The distortion mixer and
eerie stories take them to a pretty obscure territory (Doomsday Bells / Danzig
With Myself / The Cross / Real People) where the sun isn’t invited.
Mind you, Portland‘s trailblazers still are, first and foremost, a mean riff-loaded groove machine (Summer Of Hate / Root Of Evil / I’d Like To Help You With Your Problem and the other 8 tracks) with an instant impact on your hips, but this trance-infused longplayer sounds as if it was recorded in a batcave, with Trent Reznor taking care of the production, rather than in a conventional studio with a sane engineer.
As we know, heroine is so passé, but it looks like the band will have a feel good summer of hate filled with alcohol, marijuana, (lou) weed, cocaine, nicotine, LSD and mushrooms. All future illegal raves will start and end with Rockmaker. Welcome to the Dandy Warhols‘ psychedelic Terrordome. Be ready for a wild ride.
Singles/clips: Danzig With Myself / I’d Like To Help You With Your Problem /
I Will Never Stop Loving You
– DANZIG WITH MYSELF – Featuring Pixies’ maestro Black Francis
– I’D LIKE TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR PROBLEM – Featuring Guns N’ Roses’ guitar hero Slash
– I WILL NEVER STOP LOVING YOU – Featuring eternal glam star Debbie Harry
Great news for fans (including TUTV) of Portland‘s heroes THE DANDY WARHOLS
who will be around for 30 years in 2024. On March 15 they launch their 12th album,
named ROCKMAKER. Pre-order info here.
Courtney Taylor-Taylor (frontman): “It started with a riff that either sounded like
Misfits or Danzig and then got slowed down. Overall, Rockmaker is the manifestation
of our desire to hear a record of heavy raw punk and metal guitar riffs, but it has its
own alley.”
It features Pixies‘ general Frank Black and is a rather gloomy and doomy (yes, Danzig-like) sounding stomper, but vintage Dandys. Its poignant groove creeps faster under your skin than you can say ‘fuck Trump’.
