Viva La Volta

Ok, let’s just get it out of the way… That was quite possibly the greatest, most unbelievable, most satisfying football game I have ever seen in my entire life. There is absolutely nothing I can write here that would accurately describe how monumental that game was for me and so many others, so I will just say this: 18-1. Damn that feels good.



Right, so if I can tone down my euphoria for a few minutes, I might actually be able to talk some music. Dear sister Jane, God bless her, was so impressed by my salute to her and her iTunes gift cards in a previous post, that she decided to give me another two for my birthday. And yes, once again it allowed me to continue stocking my library with a whole bunch of random stuff. However, not all of it was random. There was one band whose new album I knew would be out soon, and I was determined to own it. So I waited the extra three days for its official release (which was excruciating for an impatient music lover) and then began the evaluation process.

The band I am referring to is The Mars Volta. Heard of them? I imagine some of you have. They’re actually fairly popular, but certainly not “radio-friendly.” I’ll try to give some background, though I would not consider myself an authority by any means. So during the late ‘90’s, there was this up-and-coming band from Texas called At The Drive-In, or ATDI. They weren’t all that well-known, but they had created enough of a buzz that many insiders thought they had the chance to make it big. It didn’t work out that way, as the band split up in 2001. However, from that split, two new bands were born. On one side, were three of the five ATDI members who wanted to pursue a more straightforward, rock-oriented sound. They formed Sparta, a very good alternative rock band. I actually saw them in 2004 when they opened for Incubus, and I was pretty impressed. Nothing too wild. A fairly common style of rock. Not too edgy, but not too pop-sounding. All in all a legitimately decent band.

It was the other side of the ATDI split, however, that would blow everyone’s mind. The two ATDI members who essentially forced the split, were lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. These two would go on to found The Mars Volta. Now the reason they even wanted out of ATDI in the first place is that they felt themselves going in a completely different direction than the other band members. These two didn’t want to play “rock.” They wanted to play everything… at the same time. They wanted to use their Latin roots in their music; they wanted to play in different time signatures; they wanted to use all sorts of dissonant chords; they wanted to distort the hell out of their instruments; they wanted to make albums that only had five songs on them, but they wanted all those songs to be 10:00 long; they wanted a huge band with a huge amount of instruments... You get the idea. They wanted to break free of the traditional nature of the band they were in, and just go in a direction that had absolutely no boundaries. And so they did.



So Cedric and Omar rounded up a crew of seven other musicians, and formed the Mars Volta (if you’re counting it’s 1 singer, 1 drummer, 1 bass player, 1 keyboardist, 1 percussionist, 1 multi-instrumentalist, 1 “sound manipulator”, and 2 guitarists). The sound? Decidedly “prog rock”, which is the term used for progressive rock, a style of rock music that incorporates all of the abstract musical elements I mentioned before. For a point of reference, Pink Floyd is often considered the gold standard of prog rock (Rush and Yes are also included in that conversation regularly). I am oversimplifying quite a bit here, but those are just the basics.

Anyway, The Mars Volta essentially revived popular prog rock, and even gave it a facelift by adding in elements of hard rock and Latin rock. That didn’t guarantee success though. People didn’t know what to make of them when their first album came out in 2003. Hardly any of it could be played on the radio. Singles? How could you pick a single? The songs were generally either too short, or way too long. Not to mention the fact that they were all over the place. If you gave it just one quick listen, you’d think the recording process was one big mistake. Flat notes, overlapping rhythms, obnoxiously loud guitar distortion… what is this???

And for the most part, that’s how these guys have been looked at by many people. “What is this???” I tried checking them out once or twice, but couldn’t get through it. Too complex for me. Then one day in October 2006, I actually had to listen. The Mars Volta was opening for the Chilis, and I’ll be damned if I was going to miss an opening act (I just can’t do it). At first I wanted earplugs. I mean this stuff was loud! And just really weird. But then they started riffing this one cool song… and then that turned into another good one… and before I realized it, they had played a 45 minute set that only had 4 songs. 4 songs… in 45 minutes. Wow. So I decided to give them another shot. And wouldn’t you know it, once I devoted more than the token 30 second iTunes listen, I found them to be incredible. Yes, you have to get past your natural desire to hear simple, catchy beats and melodies, condensed into neat 3-minute bundles. But if you can do that, you’ll find a wild band that plays stuff you’ve never heard before. It’s complicated, it’s challenging, and best of all, it’s refreshing. You have to give credit to a group who decides they won’t be musically bound by 1) industry customs, and 2) traditional musical theory.



Well anyway, they just released a new album last week called The Bedlam in Goliath, and it does not disappoint as far as weirdness goes. I admit, some of it I just don’t get, and I don’t think I ever will. However, there is also a lot of stuff on it which I just find to be simply amazing. I’ve been rewinding portions of certain songs, just going “Man, how did they even think to come up with something like that?” Bixler-Zavala – who’s incredibly unique voice sounds reminiscent of Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant (yea I said it!) – sets the tone on this album. His lyrics are often incoherent, his melodies sometimes stray from anything that’s going on in the song, he allows himself to go way out of key at certain points, and yet he’s such a bad-ass singer that he almost scares you a little bit. The rhythms on this album are almost impossible to keep track of. They change countless times in a given song, sometimes frustratingly so, and it’s hard to even bob your head along with it. Everything else is pretty much business as usual. Weird, abstract, dissonant… everything you’d expect from The Mars Volta. One note, however, is that the band experienced a lineup change before this album, as they took on quite possibly the most talented young drummer in music today, Thomas Pridgen. He’s so good he makes me want to throw my sticks in the garbage.



So if you’re feeling adventurous, and you are 100% willing to keep an open mind, I would recommend that you give them a listen. The Bedlam in Goliath seems to be getting great responses from the public, and I have to say that I am drawn to it more and more each day, simply because it is so far away from anything else out there. So if you want to try something really different, check them out. “Where should I begin?” you say… Well, I’m glad you asked…

Song(s) For The Week: “Viscera Eyes” from Amputechture, “Inertiatic ESP” from Deloused in the Comatorium, and “Ilyena” and “Goliath” from The Bedlam in Goliath. Some names huh? “Viscera Eyes” was the song at the Chilis show that got me into this band. It’s intense. It’s got a real heavy riff to it that is terrifyingly dark. It would always conjure up crazy imagery in my head. The lead guitar follows the traditional Mars Volta approach of “dissonance is best”. You may think it sounds weird, but its all part of their plan. Bixler-Zavala shines here. He hits notes that shouldn’t even exist, and also switches back and forth from Spanish to English throughout (which makes the song even creepier). The chorus is powerful and the verses are frightening. The last 3 ½ minutes of this 9 ½ minute song contains a beautiful, Latin-inspired guitar solo. Of note, John Frusciante (of the Chilis) did much of the guitar work on this song, except that last solo part. I love it. “Inertiatic ESP” is the band’s first quasi-single. It actually stays in one time signature (very unusual for them), though it is incredibly fast-paced. Rodriguez-Lopez’s guitar (which I often find too over-the-top) is great here in its harmonizing with Bixler-Zavala’s voice. The middle section contains a very psychedelic “solo” piece that kind of makes you feel like you’ve been drugged. Also of note here, Flea (of the Chilis) plays the bass on this song… yes, these two bands do a lot of cross-over work with one another. Lastly we have the new stuff. “Ilyena” might be my favorite Mars Volta song of all time. It is so good. It starts out with 56 seconds of distorted, robotic-like, radio play of Bixler-Zavala and some backup singers. It builds such anticipation. You know something big is coming, but all you hear is this weird distortion… and then… bam! This funky, Latin, rock riff. Bixler-Zavala reaches for notes that are so high he sounds out of key, and then they go to the chorus, which is totally metal-influenced… and these guys are great with metal, because they make it sound Latin-oriented and that makes it groove and rock at the same time. Thomas Pridgen is un-friggin-believable on this song. He adds about 5 extra notes on the snare drum every time he hits it. Honestly his work here is absurd. Then there is “Goliath”, which was the other song that got me hooked at that show. People have been waiting for this album pretty much solely for this song. It’s got a ‘70’s prog rock feel to it because the guitar riff is so strong, and has such a major-chord essence. They could have made it more accessible to the public by putting it in a normal time signature, but nope… so instead you get this rhythm that seems to go on for one beat too many, and when you try to rock out to it, you can’t help but be off. The horns and percussion are great in this song, as they add some Latin fire. Bixler-Zavala conjures up the rock sound of the ‘70’s with his vocal stylings, and Rodriguez-Lopez is at his bizarre best with his weird solo section. Pridgen, again, ridiculous. Anyway, I hope you guys find this helpful. Be brave and give a listen. Later gators.