POP and ROCK

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This article was published 27/4/2012 (1974 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Dandy Warhols

This Machine (The End)

Portland's the Dandy Warhols have had their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks for so long that it can be difficult to determine when they are being sincere and when they are allowing irony to rule.

How, exactly, are we supposed to take a clanking, exceedingly grim run through Tennessee Ernie Ford's 16 Tons, or a power-pop celebration titled SETI vs. The Wow! Signal, or a dour anthem titled Enjoy Yourself?

On their eighth studio album, the Warhols veer wildly from the smartly constructed guitar-pop jangle of Rest Your Head and I Am Free, to the strangely touching, theremin-soaked ballad Well They're Gone, to the frantic instrumental Alternative Power to the People with skill and ease.

Still, by the time the band gets to the droning, psychedelia of Don't Shoot She Cried, which rings in at nearly six joyless minutes, it becomes clear that, for all their ambition, some ideas work better than others. 'Ö'Ö'Ö1/2

— Eric Volmers, Postmedia News