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Rating:
Strange.
In a website where you type a random word and find something, there wasn't room for At The Drive-In.
Maybe it's because it's too early for a rediscovery (like what happened with Bauhaus) which is so popular today...
Maybe it's because they never had the breakthrough album, yet they consistently maintained a good average. Maybe it's because these young guys disbanded just 8 years ago and their journey lasted merely 6.
Yet, like all truly great bands, they broke up at the peak of their popularity (music videos directed by Anton Corbijn, Iggy Pop featured in their third and last album!!).
And yet, if you listen to Mars Volta, you find their name somewhere (the 2 founders were members of the quartet..). But maybe once you've listened to them, it's hard to forget them, considering their complete discography is on Wikipedia, even more complete than Radiohead's. All their songs are available on Emule.
In short, the media might not talk about them anymore, but some people still hold them dear in their hearts.
And here I need to get something off my chest. On Italian Wikipedia (not the English one though!!) it's written that they are part of the emocore genre. It's absurd to say that since their music (and the lyrics) have nothing to do with the emo genre. The genre is post-hardcore with progressive influences as they progressed in their journey. And they weren't against pop-like choruses at all (the nanananana in Red Planet scores 10 to 0 against Pink's in So What).
"Hell Paso" (they came from the Texan town of El Paso...) is their first EP consisting of only 3 songs. But what songs. 3 fierce songs (when you live in a dusty and boring town like El Paso you either sound like them or like Thin White Rope) but built on complex guitar, bass, and drum patterns. Music that is less immediate than it may seem at a careless listen.
For instance, how can one expect after 2 songs at maximum speed a track like "Emptiness Is a Mule", which can even be called a ballad (post-hardcore, though)?!
This is why I started with this slim EP. Because the story of At The Drive-In is a story to be discovered and listened to in its entirety.
And I bet after these 3 songs you will want to retrace it all.
P.S. I give it 2 stars being an EP with three songs...
Tracklist and Lyrics
03 Emptiness Is a Mule (05:16)
Once upon a crime, with the radio on I was trampled underfoot
By the prince far guard broadcasting
To your living room two miles from bangledesh
I will walk your rope without that safety net this member is dismembered
But who still remembers that we're all pretenders
Watch your step because the mule is an empty
Because the mule is free
Fifth time on the mission
Her volcano erupted so respect equal's embarassment testasterone coward
I' m ashamed to be a pig amongst the pork
That fights the war against the wounded
And disabled the life I've encountered
Take the time dont you hold your breath
Cuz as the years pass by we turn blue
You can't be absolute within the obsolete
So don't whisper and murmur like a fool
Pick a card from the shuffling base
But all your kings and queens are gone
So how the hell do you expect to swim in all your filthy cesspool of psalms
Motel coffin deposit, down and out on 6th st. a la japan
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