Out of this world awful

In the past 13 years of the band’s existence, The Dandy Warhols have excelled at producing infectious drug rock to fans of alternative music.  Their blend of psychedelic indie pop sung by Courtney Taylor-Taylor  has delivered upbeat singles like “The Last High,” “We Used to be Friends” and “Bohemian Like You.” So clearly there are high hopes for the band’s sixth album, ... Earth to the Dandy Warhols ..., the band’s first after parting ways with former label Capitol Records to create their own label, Beat The World Records.   

Yet sadly, ... Earth to the Dandy Warhols ... is a poorly conceived, terribly executed album that has none of the heart, soul or fun of the band’s previous work.  The album’s opener, “The World of the People Together (Come On)”  begins with a series of electronic noises that could best be attributed to the Shoegazer  genre and from there the album seems to wrestle with its drug rock roots in an ill-informed attempt to sound like My Bloody Valentine.

However, some tracks save ... Earth to the Dandy Warhols ... from being a complete loss. Tracks like “Talk Radio” and “Love Song” stand out as solid examples of what The Dandy Warhols can create when they’re not trying so hard. But the disappointments of songs like “Mis Amigos,” “Valerie Yum” and “Wasp in the Lotus” offer no reason for listeners to give this album anything but a download.

Overall, the latest effort from the Dandy’s deserves some credit for trying something new and out of the group’s usual range, but when it comes to the execution The Dandy Warhols simply fall flat on their face.