The Dandy Warhols: Welcome to the Monkey House : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

With their fifth album Welcome to the Monkey House, Portland, Oregon's Dandy Warhols head straight for the trash. The murky earth tones the group sported on previous releases -- that Velvet Underground sturm and drang -- have been repainted, with Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes's production adding the glittery, tacky facade of early-Eighties' new wave: splashy drum beats, robotic synths, android vocals. "Insincere Because I" could be the ethereal vibe of the Cocteau Twins. "I Am Over It" recalls Gary Numan. While the sonically electrified beats twist into mania ("We Used to Be Friends" is a speedfreak trip), the album's best songs are the depressive, reflective ones. "You Were the Last High" grooves even as it stretches into space with an unerring sense of dread. Meanwhile, "Heavenly" and "I Am Sound" are soaked in hangover remorse. Sometimes partying hurts.

ROB O'CONNOR
(July 21, 2003)