• Consequence
  • Music
  • Film
  • TV
  • Heavy
Menu Consequence
Menu Shop Search Newsletter
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Live
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Cover Story
Advertisement
  • Reviews
  • Album Reviews

Album Review: The Dandy Warhols – This Machine

C-

Artists

  • The Dandy Warhols
Advertisement
Len Comaratta
April 25, 2012 | 8:00am ET

    The last time we heard from The Dandy Warhols, it was with the release of 2009’s The Dandy Warhols Are Sound, an alternate mix of the band’s 2003 release, Welcome to the Monkey House (produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran and mixed by Russell Elavedo). Dissatisfied with the result, the band’s label, Capitol Records, opted to have the album re-mixed by Peter Wheatley, without the Dandys’ involvement. The friction with the label led the band to begin releasing material including the obtuse and at times self-indulgent Odditorium or Warlords of Mars, a creative leap but a commercial and critical question mark. As the band’s contract with Capitol waned, the band began releasing material on their own Beat the World label, including their 1996 demo The Black Album, also originally rejected by Capitol, as well as a version of Monkey House more akin to the band’s original vision. With the release of This Machine, their 10th full-length, the band has returned to a label (The End Records) that allows the Dandy Warhols to be the Dandy Warhols.

    Produced by the band and Jeremy Sherrer, This Machine was pitched as “stripped-down and extremely guitar-centric,” even described as “woody” by frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor. Featuring 11 tracks that cover a somewhat broad palette, This Machine is the first Dandy Warhols album to feature songs written entirely by band members other than Taylor-Taylor. As a result, it can come across as uneven, more a collection of songs rather than a fluid album. However, as with most things Dandy, the surface is just that, and it’s what lies beneath that often provides the continuity.

    Described by friends of the band as perhaps the group’s gothiest record, Taylor-Taylor considers This Machine the band’s grungiest. With that in mind, however, This Machine does not revel in orchestral chamber music echoed with haunting chorales, nor does it steep itself in minor chord, guitar-centric, sludgy dirges. The goth and the grunge, much like many of the band’s influences, are woven into the very fabric of the album and its songs, to provide a depth and a texture that goes beyond the stereotypical.

    Advertisement
    Related Video

    The album opens with “Sad Vacation” and a sludgy, aggressive bass attack, cousin to early Black Flag intros, that may be the most stereotypical grunge-like moment of the album. Credited to both drummer Brent DeBoer and Taylor-Taylor, “Sad Vacation” was written by DeBoer, but keyboardist Zia McCabe had Taylor-Taylor fix the song’s lyrics to strengthen the emotional content of it, moving it from bitter to defiant. DeBoer also wrote the album closer “Slide”, and cowrote with McCabe the penultimate number, “ Don’t Shoot She Cried”, where the album’s Northwest flavor truly comes to life, blended with echoing chorale-like vocals.

    “Well They’re Gone”, the album’s first single, is a mellow number that echoes the Real Tuesday Weld’s vocal delivery in a way that would make one think Stephen Coates’ Clerkenwell Kid and Courtney Taylor-Taylor were two sides of the same coin. “The Autumn Carnival”, co-written by David J. of Bauhaus and Love & Rockets, also shares this delicate vocal delivery. Featuring a guitar line throughout that suggests a mashing of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are”, it was this song and not the far more gothic tinged “Don’t Shoot She Cried” that likely inspired the “goth” comments.

    The fuzz-laden, feedback driven, chaos-infused pop of songs like “Every Day Is A Holiday” are found alongside tracks like “SETI vs the Wow! Signal”, but most of this album’s candy comes in a harder shell. “Alternative Power to the People” is an aggressive, pseudo-instrumental, with vocals more like oddly distorted grunts. “Enjoy Yourself” has Taylor-Taylor channeling his inner Iggy Pop, and “Rest Your Head” should have you thinking of Crash Test Dummies’ Brad Roberts from the first lyric. The album’s throwaway track, a cover of “Sixteen Tons”, is nothing short of a self-indulgent exercise accented with skronking saxophone.

    Advertisement

    A seemingly dissonant record that reveals itself upon repeated listening, This Machine may not be the band’s next Thirteen Songs From Urban Bohemia, but it doesn’t necessarily aim to be. The Dandys have been on their long, strange trip for nearly 20 years; it’s about time the band stopped and looked at all that they’ve covered on their journey. This Machine is not the result of the Dandys turning a corner or shifting direction, but rather taking the best of where they’ve been and applying it to where they’re going.

    Essential Tracks: “The Autumn Carnival”, “SETI vs the Wow! Signal”, and “Enjoy Yourself”

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Artists

  • The Dandy Warhols

Sign up for updates

Subscribe to our email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.

Advertisement

Popular Stories

Foo Fighters at Sonic Temple

Heavy Consequence

Foo Fighters Cover Nine Inch Nails' "March of the Pigs" at Sonic Temple: Watch

Royal Blood at BBC Big Weekend

Music

Royal Blood Have Full-Blown On-Stage Meltdown at BBC Radio One's Big Weekend

Succession Series Finale Recap

TV

The Succession Series Finale Was One of HBO's Darkest Endings to Date

quentin tarantino wont cast british actor

Film

Quentin Tarantino: "Nobody Is Acting in Their Real Voice"

Latest Stories

Foo Fighters But Here We Are New Album Review

Foo Fighters Find Greatness in Grief on But Here We Are: Review

May 26, 2023

the national first two pages of frankenstein album review new lp good

The National's First Two Pages of Frankenstein Explores a Familiar Anxiety: Review

April 26, 2023

suga agust d review d-day bts

Agust D's D-DAY Triumphantly Caps Off the Trilogy from SUGA of BTS: Review

April 21, 2023

Metallica

Metallica’s 72 Seasons Is a Monument to an Illustrious Career: Review

April 10, 2023

wednesday rat saw god album review

Wednesday Touch the Divine on the Glorious Rat Saw God

April 7, 2023

boygenius the record review phoebe bridgers lucy dacus julien baker album

boygenius Provoke, Endear, and Devastate on Spectacular Debut Album the record: Review

March 29, 2023

jimin face hed

On FACE, Jimin Sets Himself Free: Review

March 24, 2023

AW Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey Provokes But Does Not Explain on Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd: Review

March 22, 2023

Advertisement

News

  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture

Reviews

  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews

Features

  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week

Live

  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear

Heavy

  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts

More

  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Wellness
  • Giveaways

Other sites

  • Heavy Consequence
  • Consequence Media
  • Modern Drummer
  • About
  • Privacy policy
  • Advertising
  • Work For Us
  • Terms
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Download our app

  • Get it on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Consequence
Current story

Album Review: The Dandy Warhols - This Machine

Menu Shop Search Newsletter
Consequence
News
  • News
  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture
Reviews
  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews
Features
  • All Features
  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week
Live
  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear
Podcasts
  • The Opus
  • Kyle Meredith With...
  • Stanning BTS
  • The Story Behind the Song
  • The What
  • Going There with Dr. Mike
  • The Rome and Duddy Show
Videos
  • Interviews
  • Two for the Road
  • First Time I Heard
  • When I Made
  • Battle of the Bandmates
  • Peer 2 Peer
  • Essays
  • Fan Theories
Heavy
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Culture
  • Beyond the Boys Club
  • Mining Metal
Shop
  • Shop
  • Giveaways
Hometowns

Follow Consequence

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Close
Close