Acrobatic Tenement
Acrobatic Tenement is the debut studio album by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released on August 18, 1996 on Flipside. The album, along with In/Casino/Out and Relationship of Command, was reissued by Fearless Records in 2004, and was re-released again in 2013.
Only one of the album's tracks made it to the 2005 compilation album, This Station Is Non-Operational, with "Initiation" appearing as a live BBC recording.
Background and recording
The record was recorded in Los Angeles for only $600 after concluding a U.S. tour. Reflecting upon the aftermath of recording Acrobatic Tenement, vocalist Cedric Bixler stated in 2013: "Before [the album's release], the band had broken up. We did a U.S. tour and we decided to split up. I always needed Jim to be there, but he'd had a falling out with Omar. We'd made a bunch of dumb moves at the time — kicked the drummer [Ryan Sawyer] who was on the record out, and then the other guitar player [Adam Amparan] — but then Tony and Paul came and played. Omar switched to guitar at the time, because he played bass on that album, so when we played live, it was a lot different."[2]
Writing and composition
The music on Acrobatic Tenement is far more upbeat than anything the band has recorded, combining elements of experimental rock, noise pop, and post-hardcore. "Ebroglio" was written about Julio Venegas, a close friend of the band, who committed suicide earlier in 1996. Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López, as The Mars Volta, would later record and dedicate the album De-Loused in the Comatorium entirely to Venegas.
Track listing
- "Star Slight" – 1:18
- "Schaffino" – 2:49
- "Ebroglio" – 2:47
- "Initiation" – 3:26
- "Communication Drive-In" – 1:44
- "Skips on the Record" – 3:07
- "Paid Vacation Time" – 3:33
- "Ticklish" – 4:35
- "Blue Tag" – 3:17
- "Coating of Arms" – 2:46
- "Porfirio Díaz" – 2:58
Personnel
References
[1]