Track Listing

1. Welcome To The Monkeyhouse
2. We Used To Be Friends
3. Plan A
4. The Dope (Wonderful You)
5. I Am A Scientist
6. I Am Over It
7. The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone
8. Insincere Because I
9. You Were The Last High
10. Heavenly
11. I Am Sound
12. Hit Rock Bottom
13. You Come In Burned

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10163 in Music
• Released on: 2003-05-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's refreshing to hear a 1980s tribute that doesn't get overwhelmed by its own sense of irony. The Dandy Warhols' fourth album, Welcome to the Monkey House is just such an album. Teaming up with coproducer Nick Rhodes--who learned a thing or two about 80s success-via-excess as Duran Duran's keyboard player--the Dandys have ditched most of their guitars in favour of synths and sequencers, and teamed up with a host of "genuine, period authentic" guest stars: Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon provides backing vocals on the tripped-out "Plan A", Chic guitarist/producer Nile Rodgers joins the band on the retro, electro-funk work-out "I Am a Scientist" and legendary Bowie/ T-Rex producer Tony Visconti collaborates on "The Dope" and the glam-stomp of "Hit Rock Bottom".

Generally, the new sound is a change that suits them well--the Dandy Warhols have always had a superb sense of history, and their best work has often been their more obvious homage ("Bohemian Like You", for example). But more than that, the Dandys have retained their playful, baiting sense of humour (they are, after all, also responsible for the classic "Not If You Were the Last Junky on Earth"), and it's this tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of their own coolness that serves them well on Welcome to the Monkey House. Frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor (the double-barrelled surname is new, so maybe it's an attempt at anglicising?) still delivers most of his lyrics with a lazy nonchalance, but this time he matches it with a tight-trousers falsetto that seems equally suited to his androgynous image. As with most Dandy Warhols albums, the best songs on Monkey House are the most biting--in particular the first single, "We Used to Be Friends". The rest of the album isn't as immediately accessible, but it's well worth giving it a few listens. Guitars or not, the Dandy Warhols know a thing or two about writing a catchy tune, and Welcome to the Monkey House is as much fun as anything they've done before. --Robert Burrow

CD Description
'Welcome To The Monkey House' is the fourth album by the Portland, Oregon indie guitar act, The Dandy Warhols. Their music has been described by critics as a fusion of Velvet Underground style psychedelia and early 1990's British guitar pop. The single, 'We Used To Be Friends', is included.

Customer Reviews

A guitar band without guitars...nice!
So how do you follow up an album like 13 tales? an album that mixes rock, country and western, disco, funk, perfect melodies and sheer intelligence?
Simple, you rope in the keyboard player from Duran Duran, keep the same pop sensibilities with wicked lyrics and irony and go electro.
As mad as it sounds it works and damn does it work a treat.
With so many guitar bands and the huge emphasis on everyone of the having 'The' in the name its nice to see a band as good as The Dandys continue to stand out loud and proud from the crowd with a collection of songs that may take a few listens but soon manage to crawl under your skin and mark their mark.
You Come In Burned is a 7 minute epic while in a perfect world the Evan Dando co-written You Were The Last High would be number one all summer.
Monkey House is a brave move by a band that so easily could have continued to make guitar driven music, instead they have given fans and critics alike a new sound to dig their teeth into - expect a little distain from the 'cool' press but don't be too surprised to see Martin Gore and Vince Clarke on the new Strokes cd in six months time when the rest of the world catches up with The Dandys.
Put simply, do your ears a treat, turn off The Strokes and The Stripes and put on The Dandy Warhols.

WELCOME!!!
This CD took me a few listens to get into with it seeming in the first occasion like bland 80's pop knocked off in a week, I mean the synths and stuff are a little weird for the Dandys you know and at first 'You were the last high' was like the only...high on the record and I was like OH NOOO what is going on here but now I am totally hooked by this super hip sound, it's like the Beloved and has a CRAZY cover of an unzipped banana like in space or something like a Warhol pic for NOW and actually I wonder why it's taken this long to have that kind of reference I mean I don't know whether it's good timing or what but anyway the music is still THEM you know with Courtney Taylor-Taylor's tongue-in-cheekiness, it's great, and with Duran Duran people too, wow, Plan A featuring LeBon LeBon, that Plan A song being a real groovy hit but then it's the next one 'The Dope' that kickstarts the album with its funky funky sound, then YOU KNOW you are in the monkey house man and you will keep swinging right through til you come in burned. 'Hit Rock Bottom' hits rock bottom with it being just T-Rex re-vamped but other than that and tracks 1, 2 and 8 I JUST LOVE this cool new dandy, Dandy vibe. BUY IT NOW YOU WILL GO BANANAS FOR THIS SPACE MONKEY MUSIC.

Almost the best thing since sliced bread
Having acquired the full catalogue of Dandy Warhol albums over the last three years, I can certainly say that they're always willing to try something new. The band have moved from the grungy, guitar-laden debut album ("Dandy's Rule OK?"), through the self-indulgent, textured sounds of "...Come Down", to the almost country-esque "13 Tales...", and now gone retro with "Welcome to the Monkey House".

This album is noticeably shorter than previous offerings, only just edging towards 45 minutes, whereas before we've been spoiled by CD's lasting over an hour. But I suppose that's where the band is heading - into shorter, punchier, more listenable territory. The guitars have been thinned out (which, I must admit, scared me a lot at first), and techno bloops and bleeps brought in to pad out the ever-competent vocal work. And the sounds work well - it's an effortlessly cool collection of sing-along numbers, without any real stand-out tracks (with the possible exception of radio friendly "We Used to Be Friends"). But I can't help feeling there's something missing. Tiny, 1-minute snippets like the opening "Welcome to the Monkey House" and "The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone" promise much, then suddenly vanish, and even the traditional Dandy Warhols '...when is it going to end?!' close-out track feels somehow under-supported.

Nevertheless, it's an excellent, smooth and groovy album, guaranteed to get your toes tapping and your throat constricted, trying to match the falsettos and high-wire work on "Plan A" and "We Used to Be Friends". However, anyone expecting more "Bohemian Like You" may well find themselves listening for something that never appears.

All in all, it's ALMOST the best thing since sliced bread, but the cut loaves of the previous albums JUST get my vote ahead of this one.