Back to 'Earth': The Dandy Warhols

THE DANDY WARHOLS are genuine rock stars abroad, but here in the States the Portland, Ore., band is known mainly for its fin de siecle singles "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" and "Bohemian Like You" and its staring turn in the phenomenal "Dig!," a 2004 Sundance winner and one rock's great documentaries.

"... Earth to the Dandy Warhols ..." is the group's first album on its own label, Beat the World, and throughout the disc the band creates a deep, dense sonic haze that could have blown in from a debauched, funnier, lazier future — or, indeed, another planet entirely.

"This is a much more worldly record," said guitarist Peter Holmstrom. "It is definitely related to [our 2000 album] "13 Tales," but it's more grown-up, with a bit of a worldview."

Still, the lyrics appear to be a secondary concern as they are somewhat difficult to discern and don't appear in the album's artwork. But what does appear in the album's artwork are several photos of individuals holding devices generally employed to smoke drugs.

The melodically rich "... Earth" brims with guitars, horns, string sounds, banjo and loads of synthesizers to create epically layered tracks that reward repeat listening. It's a solid collection that offers the band's customary twisted strolls through blue-eyed funk, country and alt-rock as well as many trips through psychedelia — past, present and future.

But Holmstrom says it's different from the 15-year-old band's previous albums in one major way: "Half the songs are old ideas that we have had floating around that we were waiting to finish," including three songs that were once-abandoned collaborations with British trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack. "There's a couple of other songs that are older. It's a weird kind of career-spanning record. 'Talk Radio' is one of the first Dandy Warhols songs — ever. It's been reworked quite a bit."

The Dandy Warhols play the 9:30 Club on Sept. 22, which brings the group full circle with its first concert in the District. "Our first show was in the basement of the old 9:30 Club," Holmstrom said. "There were about 12 people there. I just remember a dark basement — it was almost like playing a basement party at somebody's house. At that point we were announcing from the stage that 'If anybody wants to put us up for the night, we really need a floor to sleep on.' ... That's how you make friends, though. We still have friends who are the people who put us up the first time through whatever town. It was really cool and a very romantic thing, but I don't miss sleeping on floors."

Q+A About "Dig!"

» EXPRESS: "Dig!" is one of my favorite movies. Do you see it as a high point of your career? Are you proud of it?
» HOLMSTROM: No. To me, it didn't do what it was supposed to do. We were convinced it was going to be a documentary about music — about making music — not about a semi-made-up rivalry between two bands [The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre]. It focused on a lot of really, really negative stuff.

Having said that, I would probably love the hell out of it if was about some other band. ... It's not inaccurate, because it uses actual footage. It's just edited in a way to tell one story and not the complete story. And I know that the filmmaker [Ondi Timoner] had to make an interesting story. Otherwise, it doesn't matter how cool the footage is: It's not going to connect. People aren't going to relate to it in any way. So, she did what she had to. I don't hold anything against her. But it's not the story I would have told. There's so much footage. You could probably make about eight different movies out of it.

» EXPRESS: One of the best lines in the movie is when singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor says, "I sneeze and hits come out." Do you think that's accurate?
» HOLMSTROM: No, but it's a great quote. According to the people at Capitol Records [our former label], we haven't even had a hit. We've had some singles that did alright, but we haven't sold nearly enough records to qualify as a "hit," in their terms. You have to sell millions and millions of records to come close to what they think [is a hit]. ... He sneezes and good songs come out.

» 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW; with Darker My Love and The Upsidedown, Mon., Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m., $25; 800-955-5566. (U St.-Cardozo)