These days, the word “pop” has an ugly connotation. Most people instantly think radio-ready hits and boy-band fluff.
But the Portland-based group The Dandy Warhols have made a career proving that pop music can still be powerful and, above all, fun.
It’s been almost three years since The Dandys released their last album, “Dandys Come Down,” which toyed with marginal national success and a MTV Buzz Clip.
The group’s new album, “Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia,” due out Aug. 1, departs from the faster pop-rock that helped “Come Down” and their first album, 1995’s “Dandys Rule OK” garner success. But the change to a collection of slower, moodier songs isn’t a downfall. Instead, it displays the band’s successful progression in the past five years and features more hits than misses that are sure not to disappoint Dandy Warhols fans.
Front man Courtney Taylor and his bandmates have experimented with powerful rock ballads before, especially on the final tracks of “Come Down,” but it has never been the focus of the album so much as on their new record. While the first single, “Godless,” and tracks like “Cool Scene” and “Get Off” have a familiar Dandys sound — British pop with an obvious Velvet Underground influence — other tracks like “Nietzsche,” “Sleep” and “The Gospel” prove that the band has been perfecting a part of their sound they only played with previously.
The only flaws on the album come in songs like “Country Leaver” and “Horse Pills,” which step over the fine line between pop bliss and overdone absurdity.
But they don’t bog down the album enough to keep it from remaining in the CD player for an extended stay. Part of that credit goes to the production of the album, done by Taylor, Clark Stiles and Dave Sardy, who has previously produced albums for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Helmet.
The team was able to perfectly combine Taylor and Peter Holmstrom’s guitars with Zia McCabe’s Korg keyboard to keep their heavier songs from turning into simple noise. Newcomer Brent DeBoer’s drumming may be simple, but it completes the sound nicely.
The Dandys will begin touring England, where they are extremely popular, in June, and a U.S. tour has yet to be announced.