Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (Deluxe Edition)

The Artist

The Dandy Warhols emerged from Portland, Oregon in the mid-1990s, built around frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor, keyboardist Zia McCabe, guitarist Peter Holmström, and drummer Brent DeBoer. They arrived with a swaggering, deadpan take on psych-rock and neo-glam that owed as much to the Velvet Underground and Rolling Stones as it did to shoegaze and Britpop. Their sound is defined by hooky, drawling vocals, hypnotic grooves, fuzzed-out guitars, and a knowing sense of cool that toggles between sincerity and satire. Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia, their third album, is widely considered their creative and commercial peak, the record that broke them internationally and set the template fans still measure them against.

The Album

Released in 2000 on Capitol, Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia was recorded largely in the band's own Portland space with Taylor-Taylor taking a heavy hand in production, giving the record its loose, lived-in feel. The album leans into widescreen Americana and cosmic country textures as much as it does city-slick rock, a deliberate stretch from the fuzzier ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down. Lyrically it plays with characters, scene politics, faith, drugs, and the seductive absurdity of bohemian life, delivered with Taylor-Taylor's signature detached wink. The deluxe edition expands the picture with alternate mixes, B-sides, and a run of Courtney home demos that show the songs in embryonic form.

Listen For

The country turn. Slide guitar, harmonica, and dusty acoustics stitch through the record's first half. Notice how "Country Leaver" and "Solid" push the band into territory very different from their reputation as a psych-rock act.

Zia McCabe's low end. With no dedicated bassist, McCabe holds the groove on synth bass and keys. Her pulsing lines on "Horse Pills" and "Get Off" are the engine underneath the guitars.

The pacing arc. The album opens with the sweeping, orchestral "Godless" and takes its time getting to the hits. Track how the dynamics rise and fall between quiet interludes like "Sleep" and the pop rush of "Bohemian Like You".

Courtney's deadpan delivery. Taylor-Taylor sings like he's half-smirking through every line. Listen for the way he sells the character sketch in "Bohemian Like You" without ever quite dropping the mask.

Scene commentary. "Cool Scene" and "Nietzsche" needle the poseurs and philosophers of urban hipsterdom, while "The Gospel" and "Godless" flirt with the spiritual. There's a thread here about belief, image, and what people cling to.