The Dandy Warhols
Come Down (Capitol)
by Lex Marburger
After the incredible The Dandys Rule, OK? put out last year, I was wondering what The Dandy Warhols would do next. More of the same. Their attitude of cyclical trance rock, copped from the Velvets and their ilk (‘natch) hasn’t slowed down. Maybe ‘slowed down’ isn’t the right phrase. It is slow in a lot of places, like the early morning rub-your-eyes of “Orange.” But the thing that sets The Dandys apart from the rest of the stoned-and-droned crowd is their sense of humor. With songs like “Cool as Kim Deal” and lyrics like “Though I’ve only known you for a bit, already I can’t sleep at night and I feel like shit,” sung in a nasal cynical monotone, The Dandys seem to mock their own style; in doing so, they breathe fresh air into a scene that’s been weighed down by it’s own importance. Using their debut as a template, The Dandy Warhols Come Down follows a similar structure, even paying another “tribute” to a past rocker like they did with “Lou Weed.” It’s called “Minnasoter,” and although there’s no overt references made, it’s a perfect Neil Young song, complete with the mourning guitar and launching into “I can rock her, like a doctor, if I found a way to get her off hers” in an incredible recreation of Grunge’s Don Corleone. They even throw in a breakdown complete with jew’s harp (that twangy thing cowboys play). The Dandy’s sense of humor is subtle, and that’s the best kind there is. “I never thought you’d be a junkie because heroin is so passé” is the key line in “Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth,” and it’s not delivered with a whine like Nerf Herder, a posture like The Bloodhound Gang, or a fake intensity like Nada Surf. It’s just sung, like he was singing “Every day should be a holiday” or something (actually, that’s the next track, which is pretty much what it sounds like). They don’t try to be funny, they don’t set out to make you laugh, and therefore, they’re merely amusing. And that’s great.