ÿþ<html> <head> <title>Online review of Welcome To The Monkey House</title> </head> <body bgcolor="#DDD3B7"> <!-- Begin Slabtown Logo Header --> <script language="javascript" src="http://www.slabtown.net/js/headcommon.js"> </script> <!-- End Slabtown Logo Header --> <table width="750" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <!-- Begin Left Sidebar Menu --> <script language="javascript" src="http://www.slabtown.net/js/menucommon.js"> </script> <!-- End Left Sidebar Menu --> <!-- Begin Center Main Page --> <td valign="top" width="80%" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#E8A078" colspan="2"> <center> <h2>Online review of Welcome To The Monkey House</h2> </center> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <b>Online review</b><br /> <b>Welcome To The Monkey House<br /> by Pete Allison<br /> March 8, 2003</b><br /> <br /> I managed to get a promo copy through a *very* kind mate who works for a magazine here in the UK. I ve had an evening to listen to it and here are my initial thoughts, track-by-track. I should also say that I m a little confused as to track titles. The press release track listing and the official website s tracklisting differ so I may be getting mixed up.<br /> <br /> I ll keep it brief:<br /> <br /> Electro, falsetto, handclappy, fucked-up Dandy fun.<br /> <br /> <b>Welcome To The Monkeyhouse:</b><br /> Genius 65 second intro. Reminds me of the  band plugging in intro of Be-In. A Wire-sh guitar riff drives the tune which namechecks Elastica, Wire AND Michael Jackson. Cool mission statement.<br /> <br /> <b>Used To Be Friends:</b><br /> If you ve heard Justin s mp3 you ll know what to expect. Traditional Dandys with a spin. A Strutting, 5-chord electro stomper. Probably the most  typical Dandys track on the album. Excellent choice for a first single.<br /> <br /> <b>Plan A:</b><br /> Reminds me a little of Minnesoter. Courtney does the first of a few falsetto vocals which sound fantastic. Mid-paced, percussive and sexy with a nice understated guitar part. Should be cool live.<br /> <br /> <b>The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone:</b><br /> 60s electro. Catchy, poppy harmonies and that falsetto again. Nice cheezy sounding keyboards.<br /> <br /> <b>I Am A Scientist:</b><br /> This one I m not so sure about. Very electro/dancy with a very 80s programmed sound. And the bassline sounds suspiciously like Michael Jackson s Bad (i kid you not). Maybe its a grower.<br /> <br /> <b>I Am Over It:</b><br /> An insidiously catchy, slinky mid-paced track. Features some very clever vocal effects and harmonies. A real grower.<br /> <br /> <b>The Dope:</b><br /> Genius! Where the Dandys traditional harmonies meld with a dance beat to a truly great effect. The chorus reminds me of recent French dance music (Felix Da Housecat/Air). A standout track. Visconti produced (I think)<br /> <br /> <b>Insincere Because I:</b><br /> Begins like something from  Rule OK mixed with Pete International. A really nice understated guitar part and some gorgeous harmonies.<br /> <br /> <b>You Were The Last High:</b><br /> You all know this one (I hope). I love it, and those who don t may well have  problems with Monkeyhouse. The album version is the same as the Spin CD version btw.<br /> <br /> <b>Heavenly:</b><br /> Spacey treated guitars give way to a gospell-ish chorus. Surprising, but not entirely convincing (I hope that makes sense). Again, will be interesting live.<br /> <br /> <b>I Am Sound:</b><br /> THE Ashes To Ashes clone. Shameless but brilliant. Gorgeous harmonies. Sweet, funny and sad. Another standout.  Singing, na,na,na, na.. <br /> <br /> <b>Hit Rock Bottom:</b><br /> Another breathy love-letter to Bowie? Boys Keep Swinging is name-checked alongside some tidy guitars. One of the few more  typical Dandys tracks.<br /> <br /> <b>You Come In Burned:</b><br /> Shoe-gazing electro. A cool  minimal ending to the album. Similar to the opener (Used To Be Friends) in that it s the old Dandys sound fucked-up and freshened. Guitars and bleeps and harmonies.<br /> <br /> So that s my initial reaction. My favourite records always take a while to grow on me. I think the best records always do. Monkeyhouse looks to be a grower and I doubt it ll be out of my stereo from now until the end of Summer (at least).<br /> <br /> In conclusion to my waffling; It s a very brave album. It would have been VERY easy for the Dandys to have knocked out a Stonesy pop-rock album off the back of  Bohemian Like You . Credit to them. They ve experimented and advanced their sound to create something familiar yet different.<br /> <br /> Those looking for repeats of Boho etc should be warned. The (treated) guitars are there - you just have to listen that bit harder for them.<br /> <br /> It ll be a while before I can say if I love this album as much as Rule Ok,13 Tales and (especially) Come Down. The album needs to be heard live and requires repeated listens.<br /> <br /> I hope I haven t pissed anyone off  reviewing the album. The May release seems like a very long time away right now, but I guess with these promos out, it won t be long before the album hits the net.<br /> <br /> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <!-- End Center Main Page --> <!-- Begin Currently Unused Right Sidebar --> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#DDD3B7"> </td> <!-- End Currently Unused Right Sidebar --> </tr> </table> <!-- Begin Common Footer --> <script language="javascript" src="http://www.slabtown.net/js/footcommon.js"> </script> <!-- End Common Footer --> </body> </html>