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Rating: "Welcome to the monkey house", or the translation of "Welcome To The Monkey House" in the Vonnegutian sense of the term. I haven't yet had the opportunity to read the collection of short stories (one could say "racconti," since it's all the same, but given that this is a review of the Dandy Warhols, it's worth trying to be a bit "cool") that lends its title to the album I'm reviewing today; it seems to be unavailable, but somehow I am certain that it has very little to do with this melting pot of drum machines and pesky synthesizers, of falsetto choruses and (when you hear them) pseudo-grunge guitars, of minimalist and nonsense lyrics and stabs of hipster irony like the ones frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor delivers in the intro/title track: "The Wire are back / They sued Elastica / When Michael Jackson is dead, we’ll play 'Blackbird'." And after hits like "Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth" and "Bohemian Like You," our artists couldn’t find anything better than to collaborate with Tony Visconti (producer), Simon LeBon (choruses in the catchy "Plan A") Nile Rodgers (guitar in "I Am A Scientist", one of the best of the bunch) and Evan Dando (who co-signs with Taylor-Taylor the melancholic "You Were The Last High"). In this frenzy of collaborations, with its exaggerated and lush productions, with its stupidity and ostentation almost flaunted as if they were the flags of musical perfection, substance and emotion find little room. They have never been distinctive qualities of the music of the Dandies from Portland, but in this specific case, they seem to be close to zero.
So what can one seek in this album? Perhaps one could attempt an analysis. At a first glance, "Welcome To The Monkey House" might appear as a sort of chronicle of an existential crisis wrapped in the cold and shiny layers of synthesizers, and its progression mimics that of a party: it starts with dancing and jumping madly ("We Used To Be Friends", a fitting choice as the first single) continues with blatant self-celebration ("The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone") begins to feel the chill of the "come down" ("You Were The Last High", "I Am Sound") and realizes one's condition of emptiness and mediocrity (the long and concluding "(You Come In) Burned", a pastiche of over seven minutes mixing trip-hop and psychedelia with fairly positive results, though perhaps stretching it too thin).
The verdict on this bombastic and blatantly glam album? A rather haphazard mix of synth-pop, dance, funk, and disco with occasional detours into the trancier and more hallucinatory psychedelia. Few choruses, little fun, a lot of melancholy, and decidedly, I repeat, very little substance. If this is the emblem of cool, well, then...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Welcome to the Monkey House (01:03)
Wire is coming back again
Elastica got sued by them
When Michael Jackson dies
We're covering Blackbird
And won't it be absurd then
When no one knows what song they just heard
Unless someone on the ra-a-dio tells them first
So come on come on come on
Come
Come on come on come on
Come on
Come on come on come on
You monkeys
02 We Used to Be Friends (03:19)
A long time ago
We used to be friends
But I haven't thought of you lately at all
If ever again
A greeting I send to you
Short and sweet, to the soul I intend
Ah ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah
Come on now honey
Bring it on bring it on yeah
Just remember me when
You're good to go
Come on now sugar
Bring it on bring it on yeah
Just remember me when...
It's something I said
Or someone I know
Or you called me up
Maybe I wasn't home
Now everybody needs some time
And everybody knows
The rest of it's fine
And everybody knows
Come on now sugar
Bring it on bring it on yeah
Remember me when
You're good to go
Come on now honey
Bring it on bring it on yeah
Just remember me when
We used to be friends
A long time ago
We used to be friends
A long time ago
We used to be friends
A long time ago
We used to be friends
Yeah
Ah ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah
A long time ago
We used to be friends
But I haven't thought of you lately at all
If ever again
A greeting I send to you
Short and sweet, to the soul I intend
We used to be friends
A long time ago
We used to be friends
A long time ago
We used to be friends
A long time ago
We used to be friends
Ah ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah ah ah
03 Plan A (04:01)
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
There must be some kind of plan a
For all the people who can manage
All of us who can handle it
With all of this damage
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
There must be some kind of message
Simple but somehow impressive
Anyone who can think of something
Come on now just express it
There must be some kind of plan a
For all the people who can manage
All of us who can handle it
With all of this damage
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
All of us
All of us sing about it
All of us
Sing about it
04 The Dope (Wonderful You) (04:37)
Wonderful you
The dope you are
And beautiful me
Came for your party.
Well lately I can't stop talking about you.
And mainly I'm wondering why in the hell I left without you.
Take heart
Because you're art
And you're loved,
Not that only.
Take heart
Because you're art
And you're loved,
Just not only.
Maybe I do
Maybe do ya.
Now think about me
Coming onto ya
Or maybe I would if I maybe knew ya
And maybe you want me
Or maybe you want me to be it to you.
Take heart
Because you're art
And you're loved,
Not that only.
Take heart
Because you're art
And you're loved,
Just not only.
Because you're art
And you're loved,
But not only
08 Insincere Because I (03:49)
I might sound insincere 'cause I'm
Wasted all the time
I've thought it over and it
It's over and
It's over and
It's over and it's over
I'd like to thank you
My dear
In less than a year it's over and
It's over and
It's over and
It's over and it's over
10 Heavenly (03:36)
Heavenly scene of mind
Or could be hell
Oh baby I'm not yeah
Everything I should be yeah
Oh maybe I'm not yeah
And everything I wanted to realize
Baby I got yeah
Everything I could be yeah
Oh baby I'm not yeah
Oh I’ve got yeah
Heavenly scene
Oh I could be yeah
Heavenly scene
Oh I got yeah
Heavenly scene of mind
Or could be hell
Oh baby I'm not yeah
Everything I should be yeah
Oh maybe I'm not yeah
And everything I wanted to realize
Baby I got yeah
Oh I've got yeah
Heavenly scene
Oh I could be yeah
Heavenly scene
Everything I could be
Oh maybe I'm not yeah
Oh I’ve got yeah
Heavenly scene
Oh I could be yeah
Heavenly scene
Oh I got yeah
Oh I’ve got yeah
Heavenly scene
Oh I could be yeah
Heavenly scene
Oh I got yeah
11 I Am Sound (03:59)
I am alone
But adored by 100,000 more
Than I said when you were the last.
And I have known love, like a whore
From at least 10,000 more
Then I swore when you were the last
When you were the last high
Hi-i-i-gh
Hi-i-i-gh
Hi-i-i-gh
You were awake,
And I should have stayed, but wandered.
I was only out for a day.
Out for a day.
It was Chicago for a moment,
And then it was Paris and London for a few
Days.
Well, I am alone
But adored by 100,000 more
Than I swore when you were the last.
When you were the last high
Hi-i-i-gh
Hi-i-i-gh
Hi-i-i-gh
Well I was the first to have spoken
And I said just about all of the things you shouldn't say.
So maybe you loved me, but now maybe you don't.
And maybe you'll call me.
Maybe you won't.
So, I am alone
But adored by 100,000 more
Than I said when you were the last.
And I have known love, like a whore
From at least 10,000 more
Then I swore when you were the last.
When you were the last high
Hi-i-i-gh
Hi-i-i-gh
Hi-i-i-gh
When you were the last high
Hi-i-i-gh
Hi-i-i-gh
Hi-i-i-gh
12 Hit Rock Bottom (02:53)
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
You ain't got music if you ain't got the muscle, oh yeah.
Ain't seen nothin' 'til you're down and you're rotten, oh yeah.
You ain't got nothing until you hit rock bottom.
Oh yeah.
You ain't got music if you ain't got the muscle, oh yeah.
You ain't seen nothing until you're down and you're rotten, oh yeah.
You ain't got nothing until you hit rock bottom.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah
Well, the boys keep swinging, the girls keep bringing.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Oh yeaaaaaaaaah.
Oh yeaaaaaaaaah
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