Portland, Oregon’s ever-evolving Dandy Warhols’ eighth studio album Earth To The Dandy Warhols is a trip back to the 1995 debut Dandys Rule, OK? Like many Dandies fans, I was fairly apathetic toward the last two efforts Welcome To The Monkey House and Odditorium or Warlords of Mars without counting the rerelease of The Black Album (2004) and the B-sides LP Come On Feel The Dandy Warhols (also 2004). That’s not to say that neither Monkey House and Odditorium held any decent (albeit thrashed) tracks (see Smoke It, We Used To Be Friends and You Were The Last High); they just didn’t cut it. Needless to say, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Dandies were content with releasing singles for car commercials and television cult series (Veronica Mars, The O.C., Buffy, and Skins to name a few). Fortunately their live shows always surpass expectations.

Waving goodbye to longtime partners Capitol Records, Earth… is the first release on their own label, Beat The World Records. The stupidly talented Courtney Taylor-Taylor purrs his way through the familiar psychedelic-infused rock I craved so badly since Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia (2000) accompanied by guitarist Peter Holmström, keyboardist (and bum-flasher) Zia McCabe, and drummer Brent De Boer, Taylor-Taylor’s cousin. Opener The World The People Together (Come On) is signature Taylor-Taylor/Holmström; jangly guitar, falsetto vocals, hand claps, and a laidback vibe reminiscent of Everyday Should be a Holiday. Similarly, Wasp in the Lotus is a distorted take on The Velvet Underground-cum-Bowie, whereas Dreamt Of Yes reverts back to the more synthesised sounds of Monkey House, with a dash of The Dandy Warhols Come Down’s horn section. Breaking these moulds is Welcome to the Third World, a funky, joint-smoking mating call !!! (or chk chk chk) would be proud of. Talk Radio and Mis Amigos would sit comfortably beside 1997’s rolling hit Boys Better, and Beast of All Saints is a slow-burning wall of sound. Aptly-titled The Legend of The Last of the Outlaw Truckers AKA the Ballad Of Sherriff Shorty will please fans of the superbly rollicking Get Off, conjuring images of a gin-slinging match between dueling egos.

Dire Straights’ Mark Knopfler and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell add depth to the luscious Love Song, which is promptly followed by the merry chants in Now You Love Me. Definitely a dedication-worthy love tune. Super short Mission Control is textbook rock brilliance, Holmström flaunting fat sounds echoing Horse Pills. Personal favourite Valerie Yum is a beautiful blend of Rolling Stones-Brian Jonestown Massacre formulas – complete with tambourine, droning verses, shambolic ending, and a chorus as infectious as a new breed of desirable head lice. With such a blissful return to form as longstanding members of rock’s elite, Portland, Oregon has never sounded so damn good.

Earth to The Dandy Warhols is out through Etch N Sketch