The Dandy Warhols' Brave New World
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The Irish News
by David Roy
May 5, 2003
After the success of their re-released, Vodaphone backed single Bohemian
Like You last year, the Dandy Warhols finally became a household name. The
record from which this song was culled, 2001's 13 Tales From Urban Bohemia
was the biggest hit of their career, and the stage seemed set for them to
clean up with a similarly guitar heavy follow-up.
However, the Portland-based band play by their own rules, and after touring
themselves stupid, they promptly disappeared into their studio and started
talking about doing something a bit different. London sessions with Duran
Duran man Nick Rhodes were arranged, and Simon LeBon was also seen lurking
in the shadows. For many fans of the Dandy's pop-drone guitar sound, the
signs were ominous.
Welcome To The Monkeyhouse only confirms such fears. Gone are the swathes of
noise which used to cloak their sound, and in their place is something much
more streamlined and sexy much like Zia McCabe herself.
“I never thought it was the wrong thing to do,” she says defiantly. “You
just have to come to terms with the fact that people might not accept
something different right away.
“We couldn't make another guitar record just because that was what was
expected,” she continues. “Of course if the new stuff hadn't have worked, we
probably would have!”
“A lot of bands have been very successful album after album by just sticking
to what they know, but we wanted to see what we were capable of without
guitars.”
Right from the start, the band talked about using a lot more keyboards in
the new songs and putting a focus on the low-end rhythms. These are
definitely qualities that hit the listener immediately upon a quick run
through the 10 tracks on Monkeyhouse. However, it was easier said than done
to arrive at such a well realised goal.
“As soon as we got in the studio, we just started doing it like the same way
we'd done everything else and piling on the guitar tracks,” admits Zia.
“ Originally Peter [Holmstrom, Dandy guitar genius] probably played twice as
much guitar on this album than ever before, but we got to the point where we
realised that we weren't accomplishing what we set out to do.
“Then we had to start stripping the songs back down again to bass, drums,
keyboards and vocals and then adding in just what guitar parts were needed
and no more.”
For a band known for their wall of sound, such a move might be considered
commercial suicide. Moreover, how does the man largely responsible for that
wall of sound cope with being sidelined on what might be their most high
profile release ever?
“I think he went through a little period of ‘adjustment,”' giggles the
keyboard wizard. “He's fine with it now, but he actually had to sit in the
studio and put the guitar tracks in and out to see for himself that it was
the right thing to do.
“Once he did that and he knew for himself that the old approach didn't work
for those songs, he was like ‘OK, I get it, that's not what this record is
about'.
“Now that we're rehearsing for the tour, both him and Courtney have their
own keyboards, so that kind of makes up for it I think.”
Zia's distinctive handling of Moog and keyboards is as much a backbone of
the Dandy sound as the guitar playing. With no bass guitar player, Zia has
to keep the rhythm steady while all the time adding essential keyboard
flourishes and licks.
Welcome To The Monkeyhouse is definitely a keyboard-driven album, and Zia
was well aware of the extra demands on her talents.
“I already play so much, I couldn't really play any more,” she says. “I
mean, I don't have four arms, you know? Plus, since I play a lot of the
hooks, Peter wouldn't have anything to play.
“So, like on We Used To Be Friends, that keyboard hook is mine but Pete is
the one playing it. That part was a little frustrating for me I was like
‘wait a minute, this is my glory hour I want to play all my keyboard
parts!' but it just wasn't realistic.”
We Used To Be Friends, which came out on Monday looks certain to earn the
band another Top 20 hit come Sunday. It might not beat the runaway success
of Bohemian Like You, but it's a solid pop song and a neat bridge between
the ‘old Dandys' and ‘new Dandys' sound.
“To be honest the main difference isn't so much in the songwriting, it's in
the production,” explains Zia.
“There's a lot more space in these songs, so each instrument really has to
stand on its own. It has to be played well and recorded well, and that's a
lot scarier! Before, we were using guitars to cover up mistakes.
“The whole time we were making this record I felt like we were being really
brave, and that's what made it so exciting. That's the kind of people we
are, as well as the kind of band we are we have to keep experimenting and
keep challenging ourselves, otherwise we're going to get bored and our
records are going to get boring.”
Heaven forbid...
The Dandy Warhols, plus special guests, Dublin Olympia, Wednesday 14 and
Thursday 15 May. Tickets on sale now from www.ticketmaster.ie
The new album is out on Monday...
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