Bands Who Killed It: At The Drive In

Bands are always coming and going. Because of this I feel that its important to reflect on the past. The bands featured in "Bands who Killed It " are bands who I love and/or who shaped my musical outlook. The first band I'd like to discuss is At The Drive In. They were the dopest band to rise from the post-hardcore, post punk emo scene of the 90's. Cedric Bixler-Zavala was the frontman/ sometime guitarist, Jim Ward played guitar, piano and occasionally sang, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez played guitar, Paul Hinojos was the bassist and Tony Hajjar was the drummer.They formed in 1993 and split in 2001 after the release of their third full length record Relationship of Command in 2000.

I was 18 when one of my best-friends from high school, Dave Toffling, made me a copy of In/Casino/Out which was At the Drive In's second full length LP released in 1998 on Fearless Records. I remember having a fight with my boyfriend at the time about it because he didn't like Cedric's voice- should have known right then. I, on the other hand, listened to this album until i knew every line and every beat. "Napoleon Solo" and"Hourglass" were my favorites off that one- I used to get wasted listening to "Hourglass" on repeat in my dorm with my roommate Leah. This song is slightly haunting and restrained while maintaining a very passionate tone through out its entirety. Huh? Yeah, I used the word passionate, deal with it. Passionate is one of "those" words for me. If used wrong, inappropriately or too much these words suck and lose their meaning. But when used correctly they serve their purpose. Its not obvious but this is Jim Ward signing and he's awesome- having said that he sounds exactly like Cedric. I thought it was Cedric until I saw a clip of them preforming it live and it was Jim doing the signing. For the record I cant find that clip of him singing it anywhere on the Internet but its out there somewhere. Guitar, drums, and bass wise everything's perfect with Omar cementing his genius and unique sound as well as he ever has. His guitar bows out in all the right places highlighting the piano and Jim's vocals then its back moving the song forward so the ballad like qualities don't become obnoxious.

At the Drive In had already been around for a while before I heard them in Dave's car and I had to catch up on my collection. After I decided they were the kind of band a girl could learn to love I ran down to Newbury Comics( MA based record store) and bought "Acrobatic Tenement", "Hell Paso"," and "El Gran Orgo". Its retarded( fuck Sarah Palin) how little I remember about my own life as far a dates go. I keep having to stop to think "now, how old was I? What year was that?" I feel like Grandpa Simpson talking about five bees for a quarter and white onions, Jesus. Now where were we- yup, "Hell Paso" was their first EP put out in 1994 on the bands own Western Breed Records as a seven inch."El Gran Orgo" recorded in 1997 and released on Off Time Records. El Gran Orgo means The Great Orgo and was used as a nod to the 1989 cult film Santa Sagnre by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Orgo was the name of the title character's father, who's mutilation for infidelity at the hands of his wife makes the prospect of a scorned lover setting your shoes on fire in a bath tub look as good as presents on Christmas morning. El Gran Orgo's shining moment comes when you hear Fahrenheit for. Its a short song ,which I love, with a very recognizable ATDI sound. It starts off with a banging guitar rif and distorted vocals. The chorus is repeated over and over creating a mantra that acts like a fantastic launching point for the end of the song to very slowly climb and grow from the line "press eject", then explode into "Ghetto blaster on the basement floor" and come back around to the start. So Good. TO BE CONTINUED.....