The Dandy Warhols - Dandys Rule, OK?

I like learning new things: new expressions, new terms, new ideas. Even more than that, I like passing along these things that I have learned, particularly to people who couldn't possibly give less of a hoot. For instance, it is not rare for me, when speaking to my wife, to say "Now, I know you don't care but" and follow up with a useless piece of information about UFC or some other thing which holds no interest to her.

In listening to, and prepping my review for The Dandy Warhols debut album, Dandys Rule, OK?, I came across a term I had never heard before: shoegaze. I looking into the term, I realized that the term is used to describe the music I was listening to and didn't have the words to describe properly. Shoegaze, and forgive me for my bare essential and possible erroneous definition, is a word with two-fold meaning. Firstly, it refers to the introverted style of the vocalists in this type of music. Rather than jumping around, shoegazers keep to themselves, often looking down at themselves (hence: shoegaze). The term also gets meaning from the heavy use of effects pedals. As shoegaze music tends to create effected soundscapes, guitarists will often be looking to where their feet are, as the pedals are an essential part of the music's aesthetic.

Doesn't mean I have to love it, though.

The songs from Dandys Rule, OK? that I enjoyed the most are the ones that don't fall as easily into the "shoegaze" convention. "The Dandy Warhols' T.V. Theme" for instance, features crisper sounds to create a fun song.

"(Tony, This Song Is Called) Lou Weed," does a great job of sounding like a Lou Reed solo song, although that also doesn't mean that I have to love it.

"Genius" has a cool slidey guitar intro, and the most lyrical, song-like song on the album.

The best shoegazey song on the album is the epic "It's A Fast Driving Rave-up With The Dandy Warhols Sixteen Minutes." With its 16+ minute length, the song is able to become familiar enough to appreciate the changes and variations it includes.

Rating: 3.1 stars