The Dandy Warhols
...Earth To The Dandy Warhols...

That autonomy in the artistic field is a fundamental component in defining a band's identity is certainly nothing new.

 The Dandy Warhols are part of that circle of artists for whom the freedom to move is not just fundamental, but an indispensable element. Precisely for this reason, the new "... Earth To The Dandy Warhols ..." is highly anticipated by fans and mere curious listeners; it is indeed the first work by the "quirky" group from Portland without the pressure of Capitol, the label that (almost entirely due to its own faults) decreed the incredible failure of a masterful album like "Odditorium Or Warlords Of Mars". Words and music from the leader Taylor: "Our album was thrown into the bins of record stores without a shred of promotion". And the failure to release as singles pieces of the caliber of "Down Like Disco" and "Everyone Is Totally Insane" to favor the worst track on the album ("Smoke It") completed the fiasco. Hence the decision to record the new material for their own Beat The World Records.

 Always in line with the most committed self-management, the production of the album is entrusted to the same leader Courtney Taylor-Taylor, who has the merit of giving the whole a coherence not found in the previous, albeit excellent, work. It starts, in fact, with the flirtatious stride of the first single "The World The People Together (Come On)" before moving on to the short but intense "Mission Control", a dazzling electro piece with which it’s impossible not to tap your feet. Pulsating bass, "very seventies" choruses, funky guitar, and a flirtatious Taylor-Taylor who transforms into James Brown for "Welcome To The Third World", making it three hits in three.

  "Wasp In The Lotus" and "And Then I Dreamt Of Yes" represent the psychedelic heart of the album, after a start that is nothing short of extravagant; the first is built on slanted and clattering guitars, the second is a cross between the most classic Dandys and the Blur of "13". "Talk Radio" opens with a guitar borrowed from Oasis, then continues with a return to the sounds of "13 Tales From Urban Bohemia". "Love Song" is the most anticipated track on the album, due to the double collaboration with Mark Knopfler and Mike Campbell, the latter a guitarist of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and ends up being a pop song of sublime craftsmanship. "Now You Love Me" is an "oblique" and catchy guitar indie-pop, the main candidate for the first official single in view of the physical release of the album (which can already be listened to for free on the band's official site). The subsequent "Mis Amigos" is a wonderful dive, enriched with brass instruments, into the typical sixties sound, followed by the frenzied (and lengthy-titled) "The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty" (perfect for a hypothetical Tarantino film soundtrack). With "Beast Of All Saints", they return to that psychedelic language so loved by friends/rivals The Brian Jonestown Massacre, softening it in the next "Valerie Yum", a dirty rock 'n roll viscerally Stones-esque that halfway through seems to melt like snow in the sun, only to suddenly regain altitude. The fifteen minutes of the endless jam "Musee D'Nougat" conclude the album.

 The vice of making great records is something the Warhols have not lost. "... Earth..." is the work of a band that knows what it wants, and above all, does what it likes without any ball and chain.

 And finally, let's say it.

 Key tracks: "Mission Control", "Welcome To The Third World", "Love Song"