Dandy Warhols

History

The Dandy Warhols are strongly influenced by The Velvet Underground and The Rolling Stones as well as including implicit musical references to Jethro Tull and My Bloody Valentine in some songs. Frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor describes the band beginning as a group of friends who "needed music to drink to." The band performed live shows in bars throughout Portland and released their first album, "Dandys Rule OK?" in 1995. This album was largely ignored but is cited as influential in Capitol Records' decision to sign the band. Many Dandy Warhols fans claim that this album contains some of the band's best material, tending to single out the energetic "Lou Weed," the melodically complex "Dick" possibly the closest to shoegaze the Dandy Warhols have gotten, and the 16-minute jam session "It's a Fast-Driving Rave Up With the Dandy Warhols 16 Minutes", which features both a Prelude & and a Finale.

The band first achieved success in Europe after the release of their second record 'Dandy Warhols Come Down' in 1997; the lead single "Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth" proved popular in many countries across the continent.

Following the release of Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia in 2000, the band gained a firm fan base in the college radio scene before garnering critical acclaim and mainstream recognition. The song "Bohemian Like You" became a hit in the UK and was used in a Vodafone advertising campaign in 2001. The advertisement money was used to buy a quarter city block in Portland, Oregon the band's hometown for use as film and music studios, as well as being a clubhouse for the band to throw parties.

Welcome to the Monkey House, released in 2003, was co-produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. The album takes its title from Kurt Vonnegut's collection of short stories of the same name. The recording features an eighties synth-rock sound that alienated some devotees of the band's earlier harder-edged guitar sound. It also won critical plaudits for its polish, panache, and the band's capacity to reinvent itself.

Though stateside commercial success still eludes the band, they have a large cult following. This was underlined in an interview lead singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor gave to Westword.com.

Odditorium or Warlords of Mars, partially named after and recorded in the band's Portland studio, The Odditorium, was released on September 13, 2005. This album is the Dandy's most experimental, and ecleptic album to date, with psychedelic opuses like "Love is the New Feel Awful", and "A Loan Tonight". "Smoke It" was the first track released for radio play. The album, having been described as a return to form for the band, moving away from the synth-heavy sound of Welcome to the Monkey House and back toward the largely guitar-oriented, diverse arrangements of Come Down, showed the band's ability to cultivate its details.

Along with Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Dandy Warhols were the subjects of the 2004 documentary Dig! This film captured the lovehate relationship between both bands, highlighting the interaction of BJM frontman Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor. It was recorded over the course of seven years by Ondi Timoner.

The band is rumoured and has stated casually on their message boards to be working on a remix of Welcome to the Monkey House that will be titled "Dandys Are Sound." This remix is believed to retain the melodic intricacy and basic rhythm of most "Monkey House" songs, but be recorded in a more traditional Dandy Warhols sound. Attendees of the 2005-2006 Odditorium or Warlords of Mars Tour with The Out Crowd heard a version of "We Used to Be Friends" that will likely be similar to the version on "Dandys Are Sound."

As of April 2007, The Dandy Warhols are mixing their as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2005's 'Odditorium'. Tour dates are also on the verge of being announced. On the band's own website, Courtney Taylor-Taylor has stated that this album will be "the best work we've done".

The Dandies will also appear at the Sasquatch! Music Festival, in Washington, Spring 2007.