Gigwise's Odditorium Or Warlords Of Mars review (4 out of 5 stars)
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Gigwise.com
Odditorium Or Warlords Of Mars
by Daniel Pratley
August, 2005
Time has managed to do wonders for the Dandy Warhols. Stuck in a no-mans land between psychedelic pop and credible scuzz-rock like superfluous slurry, they always invoked a little disdain from music enthusiasts whilst alienating the pop market with their deviant jangle. Cue that Vodaphone advert that ensured the Warhols not only procured a renaissance but also engaged a revolution, which was immediately shagged my the synth driven offal that was last album 'Welcome to the Monkey House'. 'Odditorium or Warlords of Mars' is a return to the dirty pelvic thrusting of 'Dandy’s Rule OK' and a real contender for some long deserved applause; bring out the freaks!
Fault is difficult to find on an album as seamless as this. From the opening drone of ‘Love is the New Feel Awful’ to the closing porno pulse of ‘A Loan Tonight’ Courtney Taylor-Taylor brandishes a newly found fervour for painfully poptastic grooves. Like the Guerrilla’s funk of ‘Easy’ and the sleaze-billy rock of ‘All the Money or the Simple Life Honey’ which both simmer for minutes before exploding into a myriad of psychotropic colours. There’s plenty of their characteristic breezy rock with Courtney’s ethereal whine resting low in blankets of feedback and horns in the anthemic ‘Love is the New Awful’, and the reclined ‘Holding Me Off’. Lead single ‘Smoke it’ has the pop sensibility of Supergrass married with the incongruous ranting of a bedevilled Courtney, which blesses the track with more rumpus than the Scissor Sisters in a Flower shop.
'Odditorium or Warlords of Mars' isn’t without comedy, the campfire jig of ‘The New Country’ and the Jeffrey Lewis styled ditty ‘Did You Make a Song with Otis’ are both charming flourish’s of buoyant exuberance, showing a real love and childish approach to song writing. It’s been a while since we saw the Dandy’s of old, but finally they’re back. I make no bones about it, this album wont change your life, its not revolutionary, it is simply a return to form done in the most glorious and kaleidoscopic way.
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