The Dandy Warhols



Life is dandy: Oregon’s too-cute Dandy Warhols.

Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia

(Capitol)

The Dandy Warhols are a band you’d love to hate. They’re snobby and cliquish and probably party all day while you have to go to work. Every last member of this Portland, OR-based band is drop-dead gorgeous, dresses really well and likes to brag about how they had a Top 40 hit with "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" from their sophomore album a few years ago. To add to all this, they’ve made a great follow-up record without sounding like they even tried to. The blissful dream-pop trilogy of "Godless," "Mohammed" and "Nietzsche" which opens Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia recalls the seamless haze of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, with a bit of Belle and Sebastian-esque orchestration thrown in. However, the album makes a hairpin turn into Odelay-era Beck territory on the southern-flavored fourth song, appropriately titled "Country Leaver." From then on it’s anything goes for the Dandys, from the funky and silly ("Horse Pills," "Shakin’") to the slow and gorgeous ("Sleep," "The Gospel"). "Bohemian Like You," Thirteen Tales’ first single, dares to take shots at the very scene the group claims to be a part of, showcasing the band’s sarcastic sense of humor. These songs almost allow you forget that this band is cooler than you are.

—Amy Phillips