The Dandy Warhols

Combining psych rock, shoegaze, power pop, synth pop, and additional styles, the Dandy Warhols balance introspective soundscapes with pointed pop satire through the ironic remove implied by their pop-art moniker. They notched early successes via the 1997 single “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth,” taken from their first major-label release The Dandy Warhols Come Down, and the 2001 track “Bohemian Like You” from Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia; each number lampooned hipster pretensions in a manner that positioned the Portland group as a transatlantic counterpart to Brit-pop. During the mid-2000s they explored synth-driven material on Welcome to the Monkey House and embraced sprawling self-indulgence on the expansive Odditorium or Warlords of Mars. Although later, comparatively measured outings such as Distortland hinted at a possible softening after twenty years, the band reaffirmed its unpredictability through the loose-limbed Why You So Crazy, the lengthy instrumental excursions of Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone, and the garage- and punk-inflected Rockmaker.

Vocalist and guitarist Courtney Taylor, keyboardist Zia McCabe, guitarist Peter Holmström, and drummer Eric Hedford launched the Dandy Warhols in Portland, Oregon, in 1994. Immediately after their inaugural performance they secured a contract with the regional Tim/Kerr Records imprint, resulting in the 1995 debut Dandys Rule OK?, whose tracks “Lou Weed” and “Ride” explicitly referenced the sonic legacies of the Velvet Underground and Ride.

The same year Capitol Records inked the quartet, yet after rejecting an initial follow-up effort the band reconvened with original producer Tony Lash to complete The Dandy Warhols Come Down. That more refined collection garnered heightened critical notice and broader sales, especially across the U.K., where it earned gold certification and placed three singles inside the Top 40. Domestically, “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth” reached number 31 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs tally. In 1998 Hedford exited, and Taylor’s cousin Brent DeBoer assumed drumming duties.

The group resurfaced in 2000 with Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, shifting emphasis from psychedelic textures toward incisive pop exemplified by “Bohemian Like You.” The signature cut climbed to number 28 on the U.S. Alternative Songs chart and number five on the U.K. Singles Chart in 2001. That November the Dandy Warhols inaugurated the Odditorium, their northwest Portland studio that doubles as an exhibition and performance venue. In 2002 Holmström wed his longtime partner and adopted her surname, Loew; Taylor likewise altered his billing to Courtney Taylor-Taylor following a misheard introduction during an interview.

For their fourth album, Welcome to the Monkey House, the Dandy Warhols enlisted Nile Rodgers, Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes, and Evan Dando. After Capitol discarded an initial mix helmed by Grammy-winning engineer Russell Elevado, Rhodes supplied the final synth-pop and new-wave treatment. Issued in 2003, the record reached number 118 on the Billboard 200 and yielded the disco-tinged single “We Used to Be Friends.” Subsequent live appearances included support slots for David Bowie on a segment of his 2003 A Reality tour. The band maintained visibility in 2004 through Ondi Timoner’s documentary Dig!, which examined the fraught rapport between the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre and captured the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Also that year they issued the previously shelved Capitol debut as The Black Album alongside the retrospective Come on Feel the Dandy Warhols, packaged together on their own Beat the World Records imprint.

The Dandy Warhols delivered fresh material in 2005 with Odditorium or Warlords of Mars, a psych-rock excursion that peaked at number 89 on the Billboard 200. Shortly afterward they contributed a cover of the Everly Brothers’ “All I Have to Do Is Dream” to the Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse soundtrack. Additional non-album releases followed, among them the 2006 single “Have a Kick Ass Summer (Me and My Friends)” and the theme for the 2007 film Good Luck Chuck. Their sixth studio effort, the 2008 Beat the World debut Earth to the Dandy Warhols, incorporated guest spots from Mark Knopfler and Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers; it registered at number 128 on the Billboard 200 and generated two remix EPs.

Subsequent activity encompassed tracks for the Cure tribute Perfect as Cats and the Love and Rockets homage New Tales to Tell: A Tribute to Love and Rockets. Archival projects included the 2009 release Dandy Warhols Are Sound, restoring Elevado’s original Welcome to the Monkey House mix, and the 2010 compilation Best of the Capitol Years: 1995-2007, which premiered “This Is the Tide,” DeBoer’s first lead vocal. Band members pursued parallel endeavors: Taylor-Taylor’s 2009 graphic novel One Model Nation, DeBoer’s 2010 solo album The Farmer, Loew’s Pete International Airport self-titled debut, and McCabe’s Brush Prairie EP Carry Yourself Back to Me. In 2011 the group recorded an alternate MythBusters theme that aired through the program’s 2014 conclusion.

The Dandy Warhols reemerged in 2012 with This Machine, a tempered collection that attained a career-best number 88 on the Billboard 200 and also charted on Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums. The set featured a collaboration with David J. The following year they marked the thirteenth anniversary of Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia with a deluxe edition and supporting tour that produced their inaugural live album, 2014’s Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia Live at the Wonder. Another live document, Live at the X-Ray Cafe, captured their eighth performance and appeared via Voodoo Doughnut for Record Store Day 2016. That same year Distortland, a measured and pastoral release, reached number 43 on Billboard’s Rock Albums chart. In 2017 they issued the single “Thick Girls Knock Me Out (Richard Starkey),” while Pete International Airport unveiled its sophomore effort Safer with the Wolves…. The band’s tenth album, the wide-ranging Why You So Crazy, surfaced in January 2019 to celebrate their twenty-fifth year. The following year brought the three-hour-plus Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone, an assemblage of previously captured improvisations showcasing members on atypical instruments; produced by Jacob Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra and issued amid the COVID-19 pandemic with proceeds benefiting charity, it contained one vocal track, “Zia Rolls Another,” featuring McCabe and Sylvain Sylvain. Their sole other contribution during this interval was a version of “What We All Want” for the 2021 Gang of Four covers collection The Problem of Leisure. In March 2024 they returned with Rockmaker, their twelfth album, which infused punk and garage-rock elements—drawing from the Damned, the MC5, and the Stooges—into their psych-rock framework and included Pixies’ Frank Black on “Danzig with Myself.”