Part of why At the Drive-In is such a ***ing amazing band is the air of mystique that surrounding them. They took bizzare time signatures, lovecraftian, sci-fi tinged lyrics and an uncompromising musical ethos and took it dead seriously. There were no joke songs or funny tour stories; it was all about the music. Leaving people to uncover the meaning behind some very cryptic songwriting. With a furious, salsa dancing, wildman of a singer by the name of Cedric Zavala , Jim Ward, a pop loving, punk rocker rythm guitar player, and Omar Lopez, a genius of a lead guitar player who used the guitar as a veritable orchestra of effect pedals. In 1998 our Texas purveyours of Punk released an album called In/Casino/Out on fearless records. Described by frontman Cedric as "an attempt to capture the live sound of At the Drive-In." In some ways this is true. I was lucky enough to see ATDI in the year 2000 right after the reease of RElationship of Command. I gotta say, this record comes pretty close to capturing that live soun. The record was recorde with the hold band in the same room playing together' giving the record a raw edge. Not quite the same as Cedric Zavala doing a handstand ont he drumkit while holding a microphone in his mouth but it's still very energetic. All of the classic ATDI songwriter tropes are herem the alternate tunings, the frantic vocals, the morse code drumming, and the exceedingly literate lyrics that we all know and love. Highlights incude the beautiful outro to lopsided, The crushing emotion of Napolean solo, the pure songwriting skill of alpha centerai, and Omar's glorious afro. Download this, or buy the Vinyl because Vinyl is good for your soul.
Download: Alpha Centerai, Anpolean Solo, Hourglass, Lopsided, Transatlantic foe. asically the while album except for "for now we toast", I wasn't feeling that. |
