I used to hate The Dandy Warhols. Then I liked them. Now I hate them again. Such is life.
The Dandy Warhols have always been just a little bit extrovert, some would say 'on another planet' (that's got the obvious reference to their latest album 'Earth To The Dandy Warhols' out of the way early). So a single entitled 'Mission Control' is entirely appropriate from Courtney Talyor-Taylor and crew, who are doing something different yet again while maintaining the band's trademark quirky irreverent sound.'Mission Control' is a horrible blend of The Stooges and early 80s synth-pop with none of the qualities of either. Courtney Talyor-Taylor's gravely baritone is a woeful drawl wallowing on a bed of fuzzy keyboards and guitars. Lyrically the song seems to be about disillusioned youth trying to reconnect with the guidance of society but the delivery is so hopeless that the message is ever unclear. Clunky vocals echo equally clumsy wording like "You better not listen to yourself now anymore. You better not trust anybody else now" and is a constant plague. But it is the totally uninspired chorus of simply repeating the name of the song that really kills this off. A minute and a half in and the song actually sinks to new lows as Talyor-Taylor sings "It's not quite like you think; it's not that obvious". It would be great to say that there is a redeeming feature as the guitars build but the same monotonous dirge chugs on. Thankfully, at just over two minutes, it is short.
Whether 'Mission Control' should be taken seriously or just as a badly conceived ironic joke (the band are so good at these) is a matter of opinion. But this is music. And music is serious. If you want to sell records and get fans you don't piss around. But maybe that is what The Dandy Warhols are going for and maybe that is what their genuine long suffering fans like.
-- CS (for The Music Magazine)
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