Stuff's Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia review (5 stars out of 5)
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Stuff
Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
by -
September, 2000
Three years ago, the Dandy Warhols were Portland poseurs and glam-rock wanna-bes, trying to save America's youth with a catchy little antidrug anthem called "Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth." America's youth yawned. Cut to 2000, and suddenly the "just say no" mascots are crooning "you get me high" and wallowing in wails of acid guitar in the tradition of the Stones Roses and Primal Scream. Whether these guys (and one girl) are opportunists or merely crackheads-come-lately isn't the point. What matters is that the Dandy Warhols' music reached a higher altitude. "All I wanna do is get off," lead singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor announces in the symphonic "Get Off," and admirable sentiment that almost makes up for his preposterous last name. Taylor-Taylor's on-key Lou Reed-like vocals blend right in with Thirteen Tales' perfect storm of sound, built on fuzzy guitar, retro sitars (in the Middle Eastern-ish "Mohammed") and burnt-out Brian Wilson-esque farm-animal noises ("Country Leaver"). Blend in some synths and let the slooow trip-hop beats crawl in through your ear and burrow into your blissfully groovin' brain. Laid end-to-end, the album's 13 songs may well be an audio Trainspotting, and ecstasy-fueled alt-pop soundtrack without the track marks.
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