Headcleaners's ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down review (3 stars out of 4)
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Headcleaner
Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
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The Dandy Warhols are a rum bunch. Exploding over the Atlantic in a shower of sex, glam and daredevil comments about drugs, they and their heady brew of drone pop are over here, drinking our beer, shagging our women (and men) and flashing their bits at anyone that cares to look. You certainly can't accuse them of being shoegazers.
With "The Dandy Warhols Come Down" - their second LP - the band demonstrate their loves and influences, blatantly displaying them on their sleeves with titles such as "Hard-on For Jesus" and the by now permanently lodged in your head "Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth". However, that insanely catchy single plus its predecessor, the hedonistic rush of "Every Day Should Be A Holiday", are perhaps a little bit misleading when taken out of context. This LP demonstrates that the Dandy Warhol's muse is more interested in flirting with the sonic experimentalism of bands such as My Bloody Valentine than chatting up the (psycho)candy-wrapped pop typified by "Junkie".
Whilst this may initially disappoint some looking for an LP full of glam pop classics, perseverance with this platter will reward. Most tracks have a similar tempo - somewhere between "just got out of bed" and "just smoked a spliff the size of Oregon" - and after a few listens the music itself becomes naroctic, hypnotic in its repetition and relentless drone. With songs such as "Minnesoter" and "Boys Better" this strikes home with the force of a sledgehammer, the band managing to bolt on a fantastic tune to a wall of noise that would take a nuclear strike to knock down. However, some tracks such as "I Love You" and "Whipping Tree" are less effective, promising you great things then failing to deliver as they float off into nothingness.
However, the pluses tend to outweight the minuses, and The Dandy Warhols knowing line in referential irony (with song titles like "Cool As Kim Deal"), married with their ear for a good tune - and, dammit, the fact they all look as cool as a polar bear in shades eating a Cornetto - means that you can forgive them much. So sit back and breathe in the funny-smelling aroma that wafts out of "The Dandy Warhols Come Down" and take a stoned cherry-popping trip with people that your parents warned you about.
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