At The Drive In - Relationship Of Command

The first time I heard this record I didn’t like the way Cedric Bixler sang. He was screaming complete nonsense, shrieking in and out of key and melody, he looked like a doofus with his afro, and he flung himself around on stage like this amped up junky (which, I think around that time, he essentially was.). I didn’t like the way Omar Roderiguez played the guitar either, I thought it was too noisy and you couldn’t make sense out of it. He would play an awesome riff and drown it in noise or throw in too much squealing when he should have been squelching.

But I sure as hell loved the way Tony Hajjar played drums.

I ended up warming up to the vocals and the guitars, the chaos was the greatest part of this band. They put so much energy into the performance that they (and the fans) didn't care if they played like shit live (which they usually did, see A/V Evidence). It was insanity put down on a record, and any pent up, angsty teenager would be drawn to it. If this was your first exposure to louder music, it was as relieving as a primal scream. The great part was that while Cedric and Omar were all over the place physically and musically, Tony was holding it down. If Tony (and also in part, bass player Paul Hinojos) weren't there to give a solid base to the insanity, that band would have never gotten a record deal. They would have been cast off as another noise freak out band booming in the garages of America at that time. Omar and Rodriguez reached musical maturity as musicians later on (creating one of my all time favorites, The Mars Volta's De-Loused in The Comatorium, and disappointing me later, with every Mars Volta record since), but Hajjar and Hinojos had it all along.

Tony keeps putting down solid material with Sparta (Wiretap Scars has some especially great moments) but I can’t help but see this as his most creative achievement. In between the chaos there is a real understanding of timing and dynamic. I guess when you have to keep up with two nuts in Afros flying around you have to have your shit together.

Audio/Video Evidence : Cosmonaut , Sleepwalk Capsules, Rolodex Propaganda