A few lines into the spoken word intro of Odditorium or Warlords of Mars you can tell this is going to be a pretentious one. In 62 seconds of tongue-in-cheek, mockumentary copy, The Dandy Warhols are credited with inventing rock and roll. If this absurdity was the preamble to a masterwork, it might have been forgivable. Instead you’re subjected to their most ramshackle, indulgent and uninteresting album to date. The simplistic, rootsy and back-to-basics nature of most tracks sounds decent for a couple minutes, but too many of them unravel into loose, droning jams that overstay their welcome (four tracks exceed seven minutes and the finale is nearly twelve) or fail to evolve beyond one idea. Courtney Taylor-Taylor’s smug, phoned-in and affected vocals only make matters worse. “All the Money or the Simple Life Honey” provides the only real highlight with its down-home acoustic strum melding with soulful, bright brass. In fact, the horn touches throughout are the best thing going on Odditorium. It’s certainly no surprise that their snobbery and the freedom of having their own studio led them to try something beyond their conventionally catchy pop/rock. I can only assume they had a blast recording this shambolic mess. The shocker is that they turned in a final product that’s this sloppy.
Heavy Rotation track: none
Medium Rotation tracks: “All the Money or the Simple Life Honey“
Grade: D

(As posted 9/19/05 on davepowersmusic.com)
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