This Machine is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was released on 24 April 2012. The album features a more stripped-down, laid-back style than much of the band's previous work.
Background
While playing at Sydney's Enmore Theatre in May 2011 as part of their 2011 Australian tour, lead singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor announced the new album would be titled This Machine and is to be released in February 2012 (Taylor-Taylor had previously jokingly announced it as The Pastor of Muppets,[1] Shitty Shitty Band Band[2] or Whirled Piece[3] in blog posts on the band's official website).[4] On the same tour, the band debuted two new songs from the album, "Seti vs. the Wow! Signal" and "Rest Your Head".[5]
The band announced the release of the album's first single, "Well They're Gone", on their website on 1 March 2012, allowing visitors to download the track for free after entering their email address.[6] A music video for the track "Sad Vacation" was released to YouTube on 20 April.
Critical reception
The album has received a mixed response from critics.[7] PopMatters wrote, "Like reformed alcoholics who were more fun when they drank, This Machine is alternately sullen and unconvincingly earnest, and inoffensive to a fault. [...] As the appropriately titled The Dandy Warhols Are Sound—the pre-Nick Rhodes version of Welcome to the Monkey House—made abundantly clear, a stripping down does not become them. They're an object lesson in self-conscious style as substance, and that's the fun of it!" Pitchfork gave it a 5.1/10 grade, their highest rating for a Dandy Warhols since 1997's ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down, calling it "the most sober Dandy Warhols album to date, reining in the stoner rock sprawl, the curled-lip snark and bad puns endemic to so many Dandys releases", but "an all-too-fitting descriptor of a band going through the motions", commenting that frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor "just sounds bored".[11] The A.V. Club gave it a 'D' grade, calling it "an undistinguished slog of an album".[9]
AllMusic, on the other hand, gave it a positive review, writing, "It's the closest the band has come yet to something genuinely uplifting and irony-free – no small feat for these tongue-in-cheek provocateurs, but This Machine suggests that the Dandy Warhols are actually improving with age, which is an even bigger accomplishment."[8]
Track listing
|
| 1. |
"Sad Vacation" | Brent DeBoer, Courtney Taylor-Taylor |
4:27 |
| 2. |
"The Autumn Carnival" | Taylor-Taylor, David J |
4:00 |
| 3. |
"Enjoy Yourself" | Taylor-Taylor |
3:01 |
| 4. |
"Alternative Power to the People" | DeBoer, Taylor-Taylor |
2:45 |
| 5. |
"Well They're Gone" | Taylor-Taylor |
4:15 |
| 6. |
"Rest Your Head" | Taylor-Taylor, Miles Zuniga |
4:12 |
| 7. |
"16 Tons" (Merle Travis cover) | Merle Travis |
2:08 |
| 8. |
"I Am Free" | Taylor-Taylor |
4:07 |
| 9. |
"Seti vs. the Wow! Signal" | Taylor-Taylor |
3:17 |
| 10. |
"Don't Shoot She Cried" | DeBoer, Zia McCabe |
5:53 |
| 11. |
"Slide" | DeBoer |
4:57 |
Personnel
The Dandy Warhols
Additional musicians
- David J – backing vocals and bass guitar on "The Autumn Carnival"
- Steve Berlin – baritone saxophone on "16 Tons"
- Kat Gardiner – Theremin on "Well They're Gone"
- Daniel Lamb – trombone on "I Am Free"
- Katie Presley – trumpet on "I Am Free"
- Taylor Aglipay – tenor saxophone on "I Am Free"
Production credits
- Tchad Blake – mixing
- Jeremy Sherrer – engineering at The Odditorium
- Tim Johnston – additional drums, backing vocals and recording (at Coloursound Studios, Melbourne, Australia)
- Mat Robins – engineering
- Adam Ayan – mastering at Gateway Mastering, Portland, Maine
- Sean Gothman – album design and layout
- Hickory Mertasching – album cover painting
- Dan Kivitka – album cover photography
- Steve Birch – additional album cover production
- Elliot Lee Hazel – sleeve band portraits
References
- ↑ Taylor-Taylor, Courtney (10 February 2011). "The Pastor of Muppets « The Dandy Warhols". dandywarhols.com. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ Taylor-Taylor, Courtney (21 February 2011). "Shitty Shitty Band Band « The Dandy Warhols". dandywarhols.com. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ Taylor-Taylor, Courtney (21 February 2011). "Whirled Piece « The Dandy Warhols". dandywarhols.com. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ Taylor-Taylor, Courtney. "Leaving Perth « The Dandy Warhols". dandywarhols.com. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ McMillen, Andrew (31 May 2011). "TheVine - The Dandy Warhols, Brisbane 2011 - live review - Life & pop culture, untangled". thevine.com.au. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ Gothman, Sean (1 March 2012). "New Dandys Single "Well They're Gone" For Free « The Dandy Warhols". dandywarhols.com. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "This Machine Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Phares, Heather. "This Machine - The Dandy Warhols : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wild, Matt (24 April 2012). "The Dandy Warhols: This Machine". avclub.com. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ Comoratta, Len (25 April 2012). "Album Review: The Dandy Warhols – This Machine « Consequence of Sound". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Berman, Stuart (23 April 2012). "The Dandy Warhols: This Machine". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ Aspray, Benjamin (24 April 2012). "The Dandy Warhols: This Machine < PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
External links
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