On Disks' Dandys Rule OK review
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On Disk
Dandys Rule O.K.
by Jason Anderson
November 1995
Of the ‘60s phenomena that I most regret missing because I was born in 1982 (or something like that), the passing of shows like Shindig and Hullabaloo is most keenly felt. Flashy rock videos can’t compare with the sight of your favorite pop combo in some cavernous TV studio surrounded by the cheesiest of lighting effects and glamorous go-go girls.
Maybe that go-go girls thing was the sticking point. I mean, they cancelled the bikini competition in the Miss America pageant – these are less sexually dodgy days we’re living in. Plain and simple, young women should not be compelled to perform in lascivious dancing styles on television to a psychedelic-rock soundtrack.
Portland’s fab Dandy Warhols have already been pegged as “drug rockers” but what I’m getting at is that they would’ve been perfect for Shindig – they’re frug rockers. That’s “Frug,” as in to dance in a particularly groovy style. The first half of their debut, Dandys Rule OK, is devoted to heady pop numbers derived equally from the Amboy Dukes’ “Journey To The Centre Of The Mind” and the Velvet Underground’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Big fuzz, big hooks, plenty of reverb and the sugary vocals of Courtney Taylor (a guy, but that’s OK). “TV Theme Song” is a pop explosion and “Lou Weed” smacks of Mr. Taylor thinking, “Gee, this song sounds a lot like something from Loaded. Let’s make it really sound like Loaded.” It works, as does the Dandy’s depiction of a socio-cultural landscape populated by grunge betties and high house guests.
The not-ready-for-primetime trip hits as “Dick” leads into Dandys rule OK’s mystic third quarter. The Dandy Warhols then fill the ears with the kind of majestic drift not heard since the dying moments of Spiritualized’s Pure Phase.” The concluding three-part “It’s A Fast-Driving Rave-Up With The Dandy Warhols Sixteen Minutes” will fry your antennae as a driving “Roadrunner”-style riff subjected to all manner of phase-shifting. It ends, like all good songs, with a sitar freak-out.
Dandy Warhols, you give me a beat I can dance to.
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