“That sounds like someone ripping off The Pixies” she said, “You’re not far off” came the reply. Those Dandy Warhols are back and yer man Black Francis is in tow. Sounds rather good actually sounds like the Warhols taking on the Pixies, rather tasty, here it is, give it three goes and you’re hooked, they were always good at hooking yer, they’re sounding good, still on it…
Now we haven’t paid that much attention to the Dandys for years, not since they dumped the Brian Jonestown Massacre on us as some kind of warped thank you for all the badgering of the EMI A&R department about getting them Dandy Warhols released over here. The EMI London office had no idea who they were even though they were signed to EMI’s American wing Capital Records at the time and were just releasing their debut album in the US and seeing as EMI over here had no interest or indeed awareness, we were trying to get them to let us release something on ORG. It never happened although we did champion the Dandy Warhols lots and lots in their early days, put them on the front cover of Organ back when they debuted to a handful of curious people at the Camden Falcon one summer, a very purposely blurred photo of a topless roller-skating Mia taken at the gig. Six or seven months later thay had taken off and we somehow ended up with their small army of travelling American fans (The Plungers) crashing on our floor when the band had got big enough to sell out the Garage over in Islington (there’s a trophy and a plunger still here commemorating the event, the Plungers really did carry plungers with them!
And then, as some kind of thank you, them Warhols introduced us to their friends the Brian Jonestown Massacre and we never forgave them!! I think we were in the original version of that film until it got radically cut for release a few years later, don’t know. never did get around to watching it, maybe we’re still in it? Found a DVD copy in a skip recently, must have a look. The uncut original version is around here somewhere on an old VHS, we did an interview on a tube train about the nightmare that putting out that first BJM single eventually became
So anyway, them Dandy Warhols are doing new things, looks like they’ve been constantly doing things actually… Hang on, here’s the headline from this morning’s e.mail… “THE DANDY WARHOLS announce new album ROCKMAKER and share new single ‘Danzig with Myself’ featuring Pixies frontman Frank Black…”
“It started with a riff that either sounded like Misfits or Danzig and then got slowed down,” explains Courtney Taylor-Taylor of THE DANDY WARHOLS about their new single ‘Danzig with Myself.’ Textured like a well-worn pair of burlap jeans, the track is taken from their upcoming album ROCKMAKER which will be released via Sunset Blvd. Records on March 15, 2024. “Over time, it became the working title, and then we couldn’t change it. I mean, come on… ‘Danzig with Myself’?!” he laughs at the play on words.
Featuring the inimitable Frank Black who adds a heavy dose of Pixies’ fuzzy falsetto, ‘Danzig with Myself’ screeches like a Chevy Nova on a bender. Careening perilously, courtesy of Peter Holmström’s guitar, anchored with a steady and heavy rhythm section from Zia McCabe’s deep bass and Brent DeBoer’s intent rhythm, Taylor-Taylor’s vocals keep laser-focused on the road. Though Black’s vocals sound almost fundamental to the song, his involvement was one of random opportunity. “I was just checking in with him, and he happened to be in Zürich,” recalls Taylor-Taylor. “I hooked him and some of his family up with some very interesting museum tours first, then I asked him if he would play on our record.” The result? “Of course, he did!”
Following last Autumn’s revved-up and greased banger, ‘The Summer of Hate’ which some magazine or other called “buzz-heavy, raw punk” and some website said “a dark-rock manifesto, fuelled by gritty guitars and fuzzed-out vocals with a supple, sexy rhythm,” the new single opens the gates for the release of their twelfth album ROCKMAKER. Always experimenting and pushing the boundaries of their own creativity (their previous album Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone was a three-and-a-half-hour exploration of what The AU Report characterized as a “soundtrack that would typically score a mid-16th century banquet”), this album delves deeper into minor guitar chords that often characterize post-punk, deep metal, or even goth.
“Sometimes we have a very focused idea of what we want,” Taylor-Taylor says. “It’s generally what we want somebody else to make but since they never do, we have to. It has a very specific sound. There aren’t a lot of heavy guitar records currently coming out that we like, so that was the impetus for Rockmaker.”
Lending their hands to the production, celebrated British DJ and producer Keith Tenniswood (David Holmes, Primal Scream, Rotters Golf Club) of Two Lone Swordsmen mastered the record and acclaimed British producer Jagz Kooner (Massive Attack, Kasabian, Garbage) mixed it.
“Rockmaker is the manifestation of our desire to hear a record of heavy raw punk and metal guitar riffs handled in a way that we felt was cooler or sexier but has its own alley.” – Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are Courtney Taylor-Taylor (vocals, guitar), Peter Holmström (guitar, keyboards), Zia McCabe (keyboard, bass, percussion), and Brent DeBoer (drums, backing vocals). ROCKMAKER will be released on March 15, 2024 via Sunset Blvd. Records.
Meawhile here’s some recent 2023 footage of Spinal Tap and their manager and the death threat making kettle calling the pot black…
THE ORGAN 