Earth to the Dandy Warhols? The band would do well to note the title of its new release! What happened to the band’s contagious, funky dance hits and electronic pop tunes from the past? Where are the cool, eerie trumpets, catchy drums and actual singing that characterized their sound? Why the departure from what has worked so well?

“Earth to the Dandy Warhols” is the Dandy Warhols’ first self-released album, following their split from Capitol Records. Apparently, the band does require the restraints imposed by a major record label to release quality music. Their best-known songs, “We Used to Be Friends” and “Bohemian Like You,” have found their way into pop culture through channels such as the television show, “The O.C.;” disappointingly, however, any such hits are absent from this album.

Overall, “Earth to the Dandy Warhols” amounts to 70 minutes of directionless droning. The music is still and repetitive, and for the majority of the album, fails to move the listener (unless it is to skip a track or turn off the music altogether.)

One could posit that the arbitrarily-placed synthesizers, borderline scary vocals and hard guitar on tracks like “Mission Control” create music that is haunting in a positive way; in reality it becomes annoyingly weird. Regardless of the band’s intentions, these songs do not come off as the thoughtful, profound kind of weird that can be enjoyed when an album encompasses direction and order.

Despite the stale, rusty sound that dominates, there are a few notable songs that perhaps should not be overlooked. “And Then I Dreamt of Yes” is reminiscent of their past material and has an appropriate ethereal feel, provided by Taylor-Taylor’s smooth, smug vocals, background vocals and winding guitar, as if all elements of the song are dancing in a mystic swirl. “Now You Love Me” also digs into the band’s past as a poppy song embellished with somewhat frantic drum beats and huffing vocals.

“Talk Radio” has potential, with raspy, psychedelic vocals and grungy electric guitar, briefly breaking half-way through into a melodious series of “ohs” accompanied by a slow guitar progression, and then building up back into the song by adding shredding guitar and reintroducing the other instruments. Unfortunately, the repetition of “na-nas” and other vocal background sounds becomes irritating three-quarters through the song as they are mixed with soaring synthesizers.

“Welcome To the Third World” is the third but first listenable track, starting off cool with a progressive, bouncing, blues guitar and emitting a Talking Heads vibe. Here too, however, lengthiness and repetition ultimately ruin the song. In addition, empty lyrics serve to further butcher yet another track as Taylor-Taylor moans something incoherent and inane about white girls and dancing.

The Dandy Warhols embody a different mood in “Wasp in the Lotus,” a harder track with ringing guitar and layered vocals, both of which seem to be marching with a loose Marilyn Manson and metal influence. The closer, “Musee D’Nougat,” features nearly 15 minutes of the vocalist rambling in a French accent over the held notes of a slow string section and screeching synthesizer. (This strange combination occupies all 15 minutes of the track.)

There is no doubt that the Dandy Warhols deserve kudos and respect for their departure from a record label which could no longer cater to their artistic efforts. At the same time, it is difficult not to speculate whether the band might have been better off with some commercial aim and clearer direction in mind. “Earth to the Dandy Warhols” leaves its listeners in a state of confusion, as the band has failed to produce an album of substance for listeners to decipher and contemplate.