The Dandy Warhols

Dandys Rule OK (Tim/Kerr)
by Joshua Brown

What do you get when you throw Smashing Pumpkins, Velvet Underground, and the Banana Splits into a blender and press the pureé button? That delicacy would be known as The Dandy Warhols. The band does more than emulate the artist from whom name they derive their name. The Dandys grab pop culture by the love handles and reflect it back through a kaleidoscope. Then they do the blond, bespectacled man one better, by turning his 15 minutes of fame idea into “It’s a Fast-Driving Rave-Up with the Dandy Warhols’ Sixteen Minutes.” I read in Snipe Hunt that their hometown scene (or certain elements within said subculture) of Portland, Oregon, hate them. I say, that’s good news for the Dandys, ’cause the last band that happened to was Green Day from Berkeley, CA.

Frontman Courtney Taylor does an impeccable impersonation of Lou Reed’s voice on “Lou Weed.” The song “Ride” takes you on a comfortably thrilling one. “Genius” has the same type of appeal as Radiohead’s “Creep,” but with a more laid back approach. What I’m trying to say is that they’re good.