Dandy Warhols -Odditorium Or Warlords ofMars

Mon 3rd Oct, 2005 in Music Reviews

You can be forgiven for thinking that the Dandy Warhols must have been smoking some highly potent wacky tobbaccy whilst trying to come up with a name for the this, the highly anticipated fifth album from the ever talented four piece outfit. The truth is they probably were.

After listening to the album in its entirety, you too will feel like you have just come out of an ‘elusive trip’ as they aim and succeed on taking you you on psychadelic tour of their existence. Welcome to the odditorium home of the Dandy Warhols!

The Odditorium is in fact a real place, and exists on a quarter of a city block in Portland, Oregon, not on Mars as they would have you believe. In practicality, it acts as a recording studio and performance venue for the band. Artistically, the venue itself translates as a musical diary, the inspiration for this album, and the witness to the ramblings of the band’s daily existence. Challenging its listeners to enter the quagmire of their improvised studio jams, the album allows us to delve deep into the layers of musical mismatch, dark atmospherics, and psychadelic new wave.

Hot off the success of the highly acclaimed documentary DIG, the album presents itself as an extension of the band members, allowing us to enter their personal space and become part of their comfort zone more than any of their previous albums. Maybe this is because the album, unlike previous, is produced entirely by lead singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor and longtime band collaborator Gregg Williams. The commercial marketability here is not of the same formulaic make of previous albums, nor evident of the fine tuned editing.

Here, songs range from 30 seconds to 12 minutes in length. Half of the hourlong album is comprised of three songs. Highlights include tracks such as Colder than the Coldest Winter was Cold, which if you can endure the 10 minute duration will take you on experimental abyss of trumpets, violins, and soul penetrating drum beats. And Love is the New Feel Awful, which will leave you in a trance like state with its dominating bass presence and the eeriness of Taylor’s melodic vocals.

Odditorium of the Warlords of Mars could be explained as the Dandy Warhols answer to Radiohead’s Kid A. It too, proves to be an outlet for the bands experimental flavour, giving them the opportunity to showcase their musical ability and taste without the record label pressures of providing a variety of Top 40 hits. 

This album will not reciprocate the commercial success of Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia or Welcome to the Monkey House. But what they have achieved, is the rewards of rediscovering their sound after years of meandering through the land of pop rock. This album may not satisfy the masses, but will broaden the mind of the eclectic Dandy Warhols enthusiast, whilst also feeding the hungering of the band’s artistery.

This album is certainly one for you on a lazy sunday afternoon. Let it be your hangover cure…