“Tie it to a bar of soap!”
I love when bands make fun of each other.
The joke would have been much funnier if those telling it didn’t come out later than their call time, already pegged for 1:30 in the morning. The show ended at 4am and it was one of the few that I stayed up to watch all of without getting tired. The promoter’s had to let them play all night; their music cannot be contained.
The Mars Volta – Octahedron
Thank Baby Jesus for Thomas Pridgen.
A few years ago, a group of buddies and myself all drove out to the famous Yoshi’s jazz club in Oakland to see a fabulous horn player (Christian Scott), but ended up asking “Who the hell is that drummer?” the entire set. Turns out, it’s the Bay Area’s own Thomas Pridgen, who ended up replacing Jon Theodore behind the kit for The Mars Volta last year on their strong outing Bedlam in Goliath.
Pridgen’s drumming is the glue that holds this band together. Omar Rodriguez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala are as “Jimmy Page and Robert Plant” as any other duo since the 70’s, and they may finally found their John Bohnam.
This album is a powerhouse with a slow burn. It starts off deftly, with no music, tiny synth sounds, and soft, acoustic melodies. Skip in five minutes and the drums hit, then the rocking starts. And it doesn’t stop until the final track.
“Teflon”, the second track, is a great example of Mars Volta machinery at work. While Cedric tells us to “Let the wheels burn/Let the wheels burn/Stack the tires to the neck /with the body inside,” the rest of the band is exploring the space and range around his vocals, filling empty space with trippy psych-synth and non-repetitive fills and riffs…until the end when Cedric’s chants become explosive and the guitars swirl like a swarm of angry bees. Furiously overcharged Orange amps produce some of the best sound in music today.
“Cotopaxi” picks up right where their first album, De-Loused in the Comatorium, left off, and we are all better for it. This track really showcases the strength of an entire ensemble working together. Sadly, the song writing process for the band is sort of odd, as the main two write and compose the tracks, then tell the bandmates what to play. This is supposed to be the last album they record in that fashion, and it makes me look forward to their new material even more.
The greatness of this band is impossible to explain until you’ve seen them live. The energy and passion put into their art form is nearly unparalleled, and while the footage isn’t amazing, I do have some to share with you. It’s from Bonnaroo earlier this year, and it’s indicative of other live Mars Volta events.
This album one of the first of the year that had me glued and was actually keeping me from getting around to a lot of other things. Strangely, almost all of their albums have that effect on me, but it’s a treat to see a band’s sixth studio effort (five albums and one EP) be more memorable than their last and even more promising of things to come.
Metal Riot
Where music goes to die 