THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It started with a riff that either sounded like Misfits or Danzig and then got slowed down,” explains Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy Warhols about their new single Danzig with Myself. Textured like a well-worn pair of burlap jeans, the track is taken from their upcoming album Rockmaker, due March 15. “Over time, it became the working title, and then we couldn’t change it. I mean, come on… Danzig with Myself?!” he laughs at the play on words.
Featuring the inimitable Frank Black, who adds a heavy dose of Pixies’ fuzzy falsetto, Danzig with Myself screeches like a Chevy Nova on a bender. Careening perilously, courtesy of Peter Holmström’s guitar, anchored with a steady and heavy rhythm section from Zia McCabe’s deep bass and Brent DeBoer’s intent rhythm, Taylor-Taylor’s vocals keep laser-focused on the road. Though Black’s vocals sound almost fundamental to the song, his involvement was one of random opportunity. “I was just checking in with him, and he happened to be in Zürich,” recalls Taylor-Taylor. “I hooked him and some of his family up with some very interesting museum tours first, then I asked him if he would play on our record.” The result? “Of course he did!”
Following last autumn’s revved-up and greased banger The Summer of Hate, the new single opens the gates for the release of Rockmaker, their 12th LP. Always experimenting and pushing the boundaries of their own creativity (their previous album Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone was a three-and-a-half-hour musical exploration), this album delves deeper into minor guitar chords that often characterize post-punk, deep metal, or even goth.
“Sometimes we have a very focused idea of what we want,” Taylor-Taylor says. “It’s generally what we want somebody else to make but since they never do, we have to. It has a very specific sound. There aren’t a lot of heavy guitar records currently coming out that we like, so that was the impetus for Rockmaker.”
Lending their hands to the production, celebrated British DJ and producer Keith Tenniswood (David Holmes, Primal Scream, Rotters Golf Club) of Two Lone Swordsmen mastered the record and acclaimed British producer Jagz Kooner (Massive Attack, Kasabian, Garbage) mixed it.
“Rockmaker is the manifestation of our desire to hear a record of heavy raw punk and metal guitar riffs handled in a way that we felt was cooler or sexier but has its own alley,” says Taylor-Taylor.
Rockmaker Track List
1 | The Dooms Day Bells
2 | Danzig With Myself (ft. Black Francis)
3 | Teutonic Wine
4 | Summer Of Hate
5 | I’d Like To Help You With Your Problem
6 | The Cross
7 | Root Of All Evil
8 | Must’ve Always Been A Thing
9 | Love Thyself
10 | Real People
11 | I will Never Stop Loving You
