It’s been a long 4 years since Oregon rockers The Dandy Warhols have given us an LP full of new material. Sure there’s been the re-releases and obligatory greatest hits record but since 2008 the band have let fans wait with anticipation.
Well that wait is over, nearly. The groups sixth studio LP, This Machine, has finally been completed after being recorded over 2011 at The Dandy’s studio and clubhouse The Odditorium. The band kept things in the family with their longtime engineer and producer Jeremy Sherrer working on the album.
According to frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor the record is “stripped down, woody and extremely guitar centric. We’ve been told that its our gothiest. I thought it was our grungiest so I’m really hoping its a hit with goths who are…um, really outdoorsy?”
The album was mixed by Tchad Blake, who has an impressive resume including work with Pearl Jam and Blitzen Trapper. Most recently he mixed The Black Keys’ breakthrough record El Camino, so we’re hoping he’s taken some of the magic of that record and infused it with this one.
The cover, which you can see below, was done by Portland artist Hickory Mertsching, and suggest a rural setting which would play in nicely with the members penchant for country music. When the band isn’t touring or recording drummer Brent DeBoer plays in Australian country band Immigrant Union, whilst keyboardist Zia McCabe plays in the country band Brush Prairie.
The album also has a backstory/biography which has been written by Science fiction writer Richard Morgan. You can see a few extracts from the bio below or download the whole thing here.
“Brent DeBoer never meant to turn road agent, I swear. I knew that man better than anybody alive, and he had a heart bigger than the motherlode at Tombstone.”
“Zia McCabe walked into my life about the same time my luck was walking out. That’s the way it always seemed, anyhow, and that’s about the way I told it to the Feds when they finally showed up asking.”
“Courtney Taylor-Taylor? Oh hell, yeah, I remember him. Came from money, they say, some trust fund clan up north, but that first night I met him, at this big Redondo beach cook-out, he just looked like another (bleeeep) beach bum.”
“What I am about to tell you is classified at national security level, so you’d better turn that thing off. Pete Holmström shows up exactly seven times in the records for Operation Sundevil, no mention even remotely useful for prosecution, and there’s a reason for that.”
The album is due for release on 24th April. You can see the tracklisting below. The band also previewed a few new tracks when they were on tour here in Australia. You can listen to a bootleg of one of the new songs off the record in the video below.
This Machine Tracklisting
1. Sad Vacation
2. The Autumn Carnival
3. Enjoy Yourself
4. Alternative Power To The People
5. Well They’re Gone
6. Rest Your Head
7. 16 Tons
8. I Am Free
9. SETI vs Wow! Signal
10. Don’t Shoot She Cried
11. Slide
