3/23/05
I’ve heard a lot of buzz about which band is better, The Mars Volta or Sparta,
as well as many lamentations of “Why, oh why did At the Drive In split up?
The online banter between fans of the two is farcical. Recently I
wrote a review of The Mars Volta’s Frances the Mute. I’ll be reviewing
Sparta’s Porcelain in the next couple of weeks. But in the meantime,
I wanted to put in my two cents worth on the topic.
I maintain that the break-up was inevitable and that while fans of the two can call each other names all they like, the name-calling reflects only on the fan, not the quality of these two superior bands.
At the Drive In (ATDI) created a stir with their 2000 release, Relationship of Command. Lots of love, lots of hate. But there were many who predicted great things from this quintet.
[The punk label so often attached to ATDI drives me nuts. Punk as a genre and ATDI as a band are both loud and fast, perhaps, but it ends there. ATDI could also be reflective or brooding or bring attention to an actual issue instead of merely posing as anti-establishment. They used chords that required more than two fingers. ATDI was allergic to repeating the exact same verse and chorus three times and calling it a song. And Cedric Bixler Zavala, while certainly a unique vocal talent, has the glorious ability of actually singing in key.]
ATDI was at its best when there was delicate interplay between the two guitars. A great example would be the second and third verses of Pattern Against User. Pulling off some of the more brilliant passages can be exhausting, stressful, time-consuming work.
Thus, in hindsight, the fissures can be heard on Relationship of Command, and become downright obvious when listening to ATDI’s progeny. You have the wild, expansive, reckless abandon of Bixler and Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez in The Mars Volta. Jim Ward, Paul Hinojos, and Tony Hajjar are much more comfortable in Sparta, which actually constructs songs and tells stories mere mortals can make sense of. Sparta is 1984, Catch 22, Animal Farm. TMV is Ulysses, Slaughterhouse Five.
Debating which band is better is an exercise in futility. They are completely different; it’s all a matter of taste. I will go out on a limb and say Sparta has a better chance of coming out with that one big hit that catapults them to headlining arena tours. But The Mars Volta is more likely to maintain a large fan base into the distant future (ten years) and is already far more influential. Both are far too good for Clear Channel.
Anyhow, I’m looking forward to reviewing YOUR CD. So send it to us already.
- The Grouch
