This Machine is the eighth studio album by American alt-rock icons the Dandy Warhols. The latest single is Alternative Power to the People. It's a blistering sensory assault with a rather unique conceit: old-school record scratching serving as a de facto vocal melody.
Yet despite the song's lack of conventional 'singing,' rest assured frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor still manages to sound plenty pissed off.
Steven Shehori: The video is rife with stock footage images of censorship and political oppression. What's the message you're going for?
Courtney Taylor-Taylor: I just wanted to show a lot of images of power without making a statement about any particular kind of power or taking sides on any issue. I mean really who am I to talk about power except to say that in the big picture I have almost none and I can bitch all I want. But c'mon, look at this shit. POWER. You can't just shout it out.
SS: How much does the upcoming U.S. election play into the timing of the song's release?
CTT: Oh, I wish I could say we're actually that savvy, and how right now it's so important to stop and think about blah blah blah. But sadly, nope. This video was s'posed to be done months ago, but things take longer than we plan. That being said, I ended up thinking that it's nice to be reminded of the big picture now, though especially with how much lying and posturing goes on around the election. Power is big and brutal and apparently you have to be too if you want some.
SS: How did you come up with the video's concept?
CTT: I thought the "scratching" sounded like some old-school rapper with tape over his (or her) mouth bitching about something or another, and the irony inherent in that image led to here. Then it was just a matter of getting it done. That's always the Howard Roark part of any idea. Don't overthink it. Had I one more iota of concept, this thing would prolly have never gotten done.